April/May 2022 - 22

2022 Tech Guide
The Rise of Motion
CAPTURE TECHNOLOGY IN
SPORTS MEDICINE
By Wesley Sykes
Managing Editor
M
..otion capture technology - something usually
..associated with the studios and editing bays of
..Hollywood - is finding a comfortable home in
the world of sports.
Typically, high-tech cameras capture the motion of
a subject covered in sensors and through computer
software, the subject can be edited and recreated into
the desired character. Actor Andy Serkis is well-known
for his computer-generated image (CGI) performances in
such blockbuster movies as The Lord of the Rings trilogy
and the Planet of the Apes reboot, among others. And
while the effects of motion capture technology have been
refined and perfected by Hollywood studios, it's found a
new life among sports healthcare professionals.
A 2017 study published on ResearchGate titled
" Application of Motion Capture Technology for Sports
Performance Analysis " saw the made-for-movie tech
as a potential aid in injury prevention and rehabilitation.
Motion capture aims, according to the study, at tracking
and recording athletes' human motion in real-time
to analyze physical condition, athletic performance,
technical expertise and injury mechanism, prevention,
and rehabilitation.
And while the results of optical systems are often
thought of as highly accurate and reliable, justifying the
cost of equipment and time needed to record, process,
and extrapolate the data can prove difficult for budgetconscious
programs.
" Motion capture technology is typically tailored for
universities, hospitals or private clinics, and professional
clubs, " Dr. Kim Duffy, life science product manager at
Vicon, said.
The lofty price tag - running anywhere from $800
to $75,000, according to MetaMotion's website - is
for good reason. The tech allows sports healthcare
professionals to perform gait analysis, benchmark
gains, and conduct rehabilitation sessions remotely -
something that's become a reality since the COVID-19
pandemic. But above all of that, Duffy said, is the ability
to identify the potential of an injury before it occurs and
correct the issue before requiring surgery.
" It allows for a lot more monitoring of athletes, not just
for an injury, which is important, but we can catch the
22 | Training & Conditioning | April/May 2022
injury before it occurs or when it's less severe, " Duffy said.
Injury prevention has jumped to the forefront of the
minds of sports medicine professionals in recent years,
a shift from the ideology of healing or rehabilitating the
already-injured athlete. With an increased injury rate
and the general demand for athletes, the incorporation
of optical systems in the last decade - but specifically
within the last five years - has proven beneficial in the
area of injury prevention.
Duffy pointed to a recent example from the Reading FC
team and two players that were working to return from
injury but were struggling. The program's motion capture
tech identified an underlying injury and they were able
to put together a new return-to-play plan using flexibility
and movements that weren't being previously targeted.
Although the doctors recommended surgery for one of
the athletes, Duffy said, because of the motion capture
software they were able to avoid surgery and provide a
different avenue of treatment.
A 2019 case study from the Sports Medicine
Department of Dublin's Sports Surgery Clinic (SSC)
tapped Vicon's motion capture technology to offer
insights into kinematics and kinetics to enhance
its practice by better understanding an injury
through understanding all of the possible underlying
mechanisms. With the help of Vicon's tech, SSC found
an example of their biases, particularly when it came
to the ankle joint. Kinesiologists have traditionally
seen the ankle joint as relatively less important from a
motility point of view, according to the case study, but
the analysis of Vicon data has suggested otherwise and
convinced the SSC's team of the role of the ankle joint
and its importance during rehab.
" The way Vicon fits in with our practice is to allow us
to objectify what we're doing. It gives us a basis to see
whether our interventions are changing what we think
they're changing, " Dr. Enda King, head of performance at
SSC, said in the case study.
Motion capture technology has also recently been
combined with virtual reality training, specifically when
it comes to the rehabilitation process. Duffy said the
advantages of immersive realism that doesn't occur in a
lab or a gait clinic could help a quarterback test out their
April/May 2022

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