Instrumentation of sprint and long jump tracks of an indoor athletics field to study athletes’ performances

Introduction: The in-depth study of the performances of athletes is crucial to evaluate and improve their technique. However, collecting representative data is not trivial, as several factors could affect the measurements. Laboratory measurements can lack in realism (artificial environment, athlete’s lack of challenge), whereas data collected in-field using on-board devices can be influenced by the instrumentation itself (weight, encumbrance) [1-2]. The aim of this work is the design of an instrumented track, which will allow to collect kinematic and kinetic data of able bodied and paralimpic athletes in their natural environment, ensuring that the influence of the sensory apparatus is negligible. Methods: The instrumentation set-up of the indoor athletics track of Padova (Padova, 35136, Italy) is represented in the plan view of figure 1a. Seven 60x90 cm and two 40x60 cm force platforms (AMTI, BMS600900 and BMS400600) will be installed following the disposition depicted in figure 1b on the eighth lane of the sprint track, leading to a total of 6.9 metres of force sensing lane. The two smaller force platforms will be installed side-by-side to allow the possibility of mounting one single starting block on each force transducer to collect separate right and left ground reaction forces during the starting phase of sprinting. An additional 60x90 cm force platform will be installed on the long jump track at 1.6 metres from the sand pit in order to collect the last step of the athlete before the flight phase of the long jump (figure 1c). Kinematic data will be collected using 10 optoelectronic motion capture cameras (Vicon, Vantage5), which will be installed on a double portal structure made of aluminium trusses with an overall size of 13 x 7 x 3.5 metres (length x width x height). The structure size allows more than one athlete to run simultanesously, in order to recreate the “challenge effect” typical of official races. Compared to other motion capture mounting solutions, such as using tripods to support each individual camera [3], the use of this single support structure offers the advantage of allowing to rigidly translate the motion capture calibrated volume in different part of the athletics field using wheels. This feature reduces drastically the set-up time of the motion capture system, particularly when the data collection focus has to be moved between the sprint and the long jump area. Moreover, this structure allows to avoid the presence of any cable on the track, as wires will pass through the trusses and descend via the vertical columns. Results and discussion: The design of the sensorized athletics track is complete and the installation of the instrumentation will take place in the next few months. This track will allow to collect insightfull in-field data regarding able bodied and paralimpic athletes performances outside the laboratory environment. Examples of these data will be presented in June at the ISEA 2022 conference

GRF ANALYSIS OF TWO ELITE PARALYMPIC SPRINTERS IN STEADY AND RESISTED ACCELERATED TREADMILL RUNNING

Analysis of ground reaction forces (GRFs) allows evaluating performances of paralympic runners with transfemoral amputation. Instrumented treadmills are expensive and low-cost solutions to gather GRFs are worth to be studied. This study aimed to use a commercial treadmill placed on four force platforms to evaluate vertical impulse, braking and propulsive horizontal impulses during steady-speed (SSR) and resisted accelerated (RAR) running. The RAR vertical impulses of the unaffected limb (UL) of the two athletes doubled the values of the affected limb (AL) that has, however, on average 23% larger propulsive action than UL in SSR. The horizontal impulse of AL remains positive in the first 10 steps during RAR, as expected. Agreement between present results and literature confirms that the proposed setup gives sufficient confidence in the evaluation of the sprint technique

Tipologie e metodologie chirurgiche di impianto delle protesi valvolari cardiache

Le valvulopatie quali stenosi aortica e insufficienza mitralica sono le patologie cardiache maggiormente riscontrate tra la popolazione. Non esiste un trattamento univoco, ma questo dipende dal grado di severità della malattia e dalle caratteristiche fisiologiche del paziente. Ciononostante, la cura migliore continua ad essere la sostituzione o la riparazione della valvola naturale. Nel tempo sono state sviluppate molte tipologie di protesi, differenti per forma, materiale e tecnica chirurgica di impianto. L’affidabilità, l’emocompatibilità in ambiente biologico, l’assenza di reazioni immunitarie dopo l’impianto e la durabilità rappresentano i fattori comuni ad ogni tipo di protesi. La continua ricerca di biomateriali stabili chimicamente, non soggetti a erosione o calcificazione e altamente compatibili con l’organismo umano, hanno favorito la progettazione di protesi all’avanguardia. A differenza delle protesi meccaniche e di quelle biologiche, considerate ormai convenzionali, la ricerca ha promosso lo sviluppo di protesi sutureless con stent auto-espandibile e di protesi percutanee inserite per via transcatetere. Conseguentemente al progresso nel campo protesico, anche le tecniche chirurgiche di impianto o di riparazione delle valvole cardiache hanno subito profondi cambiamenti. La procedura chirurgica tradizionale, a cuore aperto e ad alto rischio operatorio, è stata surclassata dallo sviluppo di tecniche meno invasive, con tempi di degenza minori, in assenza di circolazione extra-corporea e con minori rischi di complicanze per il paziente. L’operazione chirurgica maggiormente in uso è quella transcatetere, utilizzata sia per la sostituzione valvolare aortica che per quella mitralica. Attualmente, per quanto riguarda la valvola mitralica, sono state sviluppate procedure di riparazione, le quali, mediante l’uso della tecnica “edge to edge”, hanno risolto, seppur per un periodo limitato di tempo, il problema dell’insufficienza valvolare

Comparison of long jump GRFs and “flex over shape” curves of able-bodied and paralympic amputee athletes

Engineering of Sport 15 - Proceedings from the 15th International Conference on the Engineering of Sport (ISEA 2024) Running-specific prostheses (RSPs) have enabled people with lower limb amputations to substantially increase their performance in sports competitions. Long jumping is one of the disciplines in which prostheses are enabling athletes to compete at the highest level, achieving performance comparable to that of able-bodied athletes. The aim of the current work is to analyze long jumping biomechanics of two able bodied athletes and of an elite Paralympic transtibial athlete, focusing on Ground Reaction Forces (GRFs) and Roll Over Shape (ROS). Data collected will be used by orthopedic technicians to optimize the RPS setup, by trainers to improve athletes performance and by engineers for in-vitro RSP correct mechanical characterization.</p