Research Overview

Research conducted within the HPIL focuses on assisting individuals at all levels of athletic competition and recreation, and the physically active in general, achieve, sustain and rehabilitate to peak performance. An interdisciplinary approach to human performance allows the HPIL to address a wide range of evaluation and research questions through innovative means, and facilitates the rapid dissemination and application of results into effective strategies for performance-enhancement, training, and injury prevention and rehabilitation.

The Injury Biomechanics Laboratory is now the Human Performance Innovation Laboratory.

•  View Bodies of Research: Sport Science at Michigan, on the Michigan Today website. This slideshow shows research being done by HPIL members, thanks to a grant from sportswear brand adidas.

 

Members

Director(s)

Grant Goulet PhD
Scott McLean Ph.D.

Research Staff

Steven Davidson, B.Sc.

Jason Russell, B.Sc.

Post-Doctoral Fellow(s)

David Whiteside, Ph.D.

Stephen Cain, Ph.D.

Ryan McGinnis, Ph.D.

Graduate Student(s)

Jessica Deneweth

Undergraduate Student(s)

Michelle Lapin

Shannon Pomeroy

Joe Reynolds

Stephen Silvia

Caitlin Williams

Collaborator(s)

James Ashton Miller, Ph.D.

Noel Perkins, Ph.D.

Ellen Arruda, Ph.D.

Current Projects

Maturation Morphology

This study examines the combined effects of modifiable (e.g., coordination and neuromuscular control) and non-modifiable (e.g., lower limb anatomy and morphology) factors on knee joint health across the maturational pathway. Identifying the complex and evolving relations between these modifiable and non-modifiable indices will afford immediate insights into joint injury causality and prevention. An additional understanding of how sensitive these relationships are to habitual joint loading phenomena across maturation will enable us to target and ultimately modify high risk joint load states that may compromise joint integrity and long-term health.

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United States Department of Defense - Analyzing Warfighter Performance in the Field

Major challenges exist that limit our ability to successfully monitor and analyze warfighter performance in the field setting. These challenges include 1) understanding and identifying measurable movement variables that characterize and predict performance success for various movement tasks and environments, 2) developing low-power technologies that can measure these variables in the field in a non-invasive manner, and 3) developing techniques to quickly and reliably assess warfighter performance and detect when vital performance degradations first present. The overall objective of this research is to address these critical challenges by developing both the technology and the methodologies for monitoring explicit biomechanical measures of warfighter performance that translate effectively to the field setting.

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Football Biomechanics

The objective of this study is to quantify biomechanical requirements associated with the execution of maneuvers typical of elite football players. The rationale is that establishing a normative neuromechanical database of maneuvers commonly employed in football, stratified according to playing position enables the impact of explicit perturbations or interventions (on performance and/or injury risk) to be assessed quantitatively.

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Classification and Analysis of Field Hockey Maneuvers

We are analyzing and classifying the maneuvers typically executed by skilled field hockey players, stratified according to playing position. The rationale for this baseline research is that successful classification of these maneuvers will enable playing surfaces, apparel, equipment, and training products to be developed and tested that cater to the explicit movement needs and limitations of position players.

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Core Stability in Football and Basketball

How does compression apparel affect athletic performance? Anecdotally, athletes feel faster and stronger in compression base-layers, but the scientific evidence for performance enhancement is incomplete. We are quantifying the effects of enhanced compression garments on performance and proprioception in elite football and basketball athletes. Understanding the benefits and limitations of current apparel designs—as it pertains to performance criteria—will afford immediate improvement and application of this technology in training and competition.

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Athlete Performance Tracking

In this study we are measuring athletic performance, such as distance covered, speed, repeated sprint activity, and time spent at different levels of intensity, using innovative inertial measurement units during football, basketball, and field hockey practice and gameplay. By objectively assessing the physical demands of competition, the type of drills, and the intensity and duration of training can be selected to optimally train the athlete for the specific requirements of competition.

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Sport Collision Simulation & Protective Equipment Testing

In collaboration with the Biomechanics Research Laboratory in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, we are quantifying the frequency and severity of athlete collisions in football and basketball, and developing innovative methodologies to recreate these impact scenarios in the laboratory. By accurately simulating in-game impacts, we can test and develop next-generation protective equipment that allow freedom of movement, while attenuating collision forces to non-injurious levels.

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Mapping the Biomechanical Properties of Human Knee Joint Cartilage

Jessica Deneweth's research focuses on mapping the mechanical properties of cartilage across the knee joint, and developing more realistic analytical and finite element cartilage models. The purpose of this work is to develop a better understanding of how changes in joint motions, such as after ACL injury may lead to osteoarthritis.

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Biomechanical Predictors of Sport Performance

The objective of this project is to accurately quantify biomechanical indices that quickly and reliably predict athlete performance outcomes for explicit lab-based maneuvers. The rationale for this work is that characterization of the underlying biomechanical indices that drive the overarching performance strategy affords an essential baseline from which extended field-based analyses can be undertaken. We are additionally identifying biomechanical indices that govern degradation in the movement performance over time, such as that occurring in the presence of neuromuscular fatigue. Ultimately, this work will lead to a powerful on-field/on-court tool for performance enhancement, injury screening, and return-to-play assessment.

 

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