PlaySafe: monitoring anterior cruciate ligament injuries in women's football
Project
Over the past 10 years, the number of female footballers in the Netherlands has grown from 124,000 to 169,000. Unfortunately, this positive development in sports participation can also have negative consequences for the health of female footballers when they suffer a serious injury. An anterior cruciate ligament injury (ACL injury) is one such injury, with worrying long-term effects on physical, mental and social well-being. The PlaySafe project team is using new technology to better monitor the quality of players' movements during training sessions. In this way, they hope to give trainers and coaches a better understanding of which players are at higher risk of ACL injury, so that they can intervene in time.
An ACL injury often occurs as a result of a cutting or twisting movement or when landing after a jump. In scientific research, these movements are often simulated in a motion lab. How a player performs these movements provides information about the risk of injury. However, footballers often move differently in a lab than on the pitch, because during matches or training sessions they pay more attention to the ball, opponents or the crowd. This sometimes makes lab tests less accurate in assessing injury risks. In this project, researchers use technology that monitors players without disrupting training, which provides a more realistic picture of their movement quality.
Monitoring how female footballers move is not yet being done properly, even though it is very important for preventing injuries. With this project, we want to change that.
Nils Jongerius
Researcher
Objective
To develop a methodology and accompanying dashboard that physiotherapists and trainers/coaches can use to monitor the movement quality of their players during the season. This will help them to better assess the risk of ACL injuries and intervene at an early stage to potentially reduce the risk of injury.
Method
During this project, researchers are using innovative markerless motion capture technology: a combination of high-end image processing software and artificial intelligence that converts images of players from different angles into a 3D skeletal model. Researchers are using this technology during the training sessions of approximately 15 women's soccer teams. The aim is to analyze ‘high-risk’ movements, such as changes of direction and landings after a jump, in terms of movement quality.
Players are measured during rondos that are part of regular training. Throughout the season, researchers follow the players and map their movement patterns and changes over time. This is done via a dashboard that they are developing in consultation with practitioners. In this way, researchers are creating a tool for coaching staff to identify players at increased risk of ACL injury and take appropriate measures.
Social impact
Setting up an infrastructure that allows coaching staff to monitor the movement quality of athletes during training fills an important gap in the monitoring of athletes. This enables researchers to provide more effective support to practitioners in coaching athletes and equips them with the tools they need to reduce the risk of injury.
Contribution to education and research
Physiotherapists and physical trainers play an important role in coaching female footballers. Within physiotherapy, there is a growing focus on prevention. In a sporting environment, this requires good cooperation between trainers and therapists. In (youth) football, the motor development of players is of great importance. However, there is currently a lack of reliable tools to measure the movements of players during matches. This research project covers both domains and translates the results into education in both the Bachelor's programme in Physiotherapy and the Master's programme in Performance, Sport and Health.
Expected results/products
- A setup that monitors movement quality during training sessions without disrupting the athletes.
- Monitoring the movement quality of a large group of players throughout an entire season.
- A dashboard that clearly displays movement quality data for the coaching staff.
- Integrating screening structures into regular training sessions.
Project team AUAS
- Nils Jongerius
- Alli Gokeler
- Maarten Barendrecht
- Theo van Spanje
- Mathijs van der Meer
- Jesse Aarden
- Maarten van Egmond
Physiotherapy - Moving towards Preventive Care
This project falls under the Physiotherapy - Moving towards Preventive Care research group. Want to know more?