The future of in-field sports biomechanics: wearables plus modelling compute real-time in vivo tissue loading to prevent and repair musculoskeletal injuries

ABSTRACT

This paper explores the use of biomechanics in identifying the mechanistic causes of musculoskeletal tissue injury and degeneration. It appraises how biomechanics has been used to develop training programmes aiming to maintain or recover tissue health. Tissue health depends on the functional mechanical environment experienced by tissues during daily and rehabilitation activities. These environments are the result of the interactions between tissue motion, loading, biology, and morphology. Maintaining health of and/or repairing musculoskeletal tissues requires targeting the “ideal” in vivo tissue mechanics (i.e., loading and deformation), which may be enabled by appropriate real-time biofeedback. Recent research shows that biofeedback technologies may increase their quality and effectiveness by integrating a personalised neuromusculoskeletal modelling driven by real-time motion capture and medical imaging. Model personalisation is crucial in obtaining physically and physiologically valid predictions of tissue biomechanics. Model real-time execution is crucial and achieved by code optimisation and artificial intelligence methods. Furthermore, recent work has also shown that laboratory-based motion capture biomechanical measurements and modelling can be performed outside the laboratory with wearable sensors and artificial intelligence. The next stage is to combine these technologies into well-designed easy to use products to guide training to maintain or recover tissue health in the real-world.

KEYWORDS:

• Anterior cruciate ligament
• tissue injury mechanisms
• neuromusculoskeletal modelling
• achilles tendon
• tissue stress and strain

Acknowledgments

It is impossible to list and thank all the colleagues and students that have contributed to studies that we have undertaken and have inspired the work. But to all these people, whose names are listed in the references cited in this paper, go my most grateful and sincere thanks and appreciation. For their specific help in this paper, I wish to thank Nathan Lyons for creating Figure 4 and Dr David Saxby in proof reading the final manuscript. The organisations whose funding supported our large body of work include the Australian Research Council, Australian National Health and Medical Research Council, Australian Football League, National Institutes of Health in the USA, Northwestern University, University of Western Australia, and Griffith University. I have been blessed with a wonderfully loving and supportive wife and family, to whom I extend my deep love and thankfulness. Finally, “Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name goes all the glory for your unfailing love and faithfulness”. Psalms 115:1.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).