University of Twente researcher Dr Jasper Reenalda, who also works for Roessingh Research and Development in Enschede, has been awarded a Fulbright grant (a research and lecture grant) for the 2015-2016 academic year. Fulbright grants are intended for talented students, researchers and lecturers who would like to spend a period of time studying, teaching or conducting research overseas. Dr Reenalda and his family are leaving for the United States at the end of August. The UT researcher will spend three months conducting research into the application of movement analysis in rehabilitation and sports at the College of Health Science of the University of Kentucky in Lexington. He will also be giving lectures to American students.
There are approximately 2 million runners and jogging enthusiasts in the Netherlands, and many of them face injuries like knee injuries, shin injuries or Achilles tendon injuries, at least once in their running careers. Dr Reenalda’s research in Kentucky will focus on predicting running related injuries by identifying individual parameters in a person’s running technique. These parameters could later be feed back to the runner in order to prevent injuries in future. Dr Reenalda is an avid triathlete himself and he is fascinated by the way people move. “I think it’s amazing to see patients learning to walk again after for instance a stroke, but it’s also great to conduct research into the relationship between running technique and performance or between running technique and injuries.”
In order to predict injuries, he will determine a number of parameters based on movement analyses previously conducted in the lab. “We took measurements on the treadmill and used an infrared optical system to take a look at the movement pattern (running technique) and possible deviations. They’re doing a lot of research in this area in Kentucky,” says Reenalda. US researchers have found that there are often deviations to the hip abduction angle: the angle between the hip and the knee during running. This angle seems to be involved in causing knee injuries.
Lab measurements are not always representative of the outside world. It is therefore very important to translate lab measurements to a particular sports setting outside the lab. Reenalda explains: “Outside the lab we work with Xsens, a company that supplies inertial motion sensors for our runners. These sensors can measure parameters such as the hip abduction angle in a particular sports setting. This helps us gain insight into a variety of factors such as the effects of fatigue on running patterns. We have performed these types of measurements before on runners during the Enschede marathon. Fatigue has a negative impact on running technique and this for instance influences the impact that can be measured on the shin and the symmetry of movement patterns.”
Dr Reenalda’s research will be interesting for sports physicians, physiotherapists and runners. He received his Fulbright grant from the American ambassador to the Netherlands, Timothy Broas (see photo). Dr Reenalda will also be giving lectures to American undergraduate and graduate students in Kentucky, for example on Biomechanics and in the university’s Muscle Forum. He will also travel around the United States, visiting other universities that are active in this area. He will be accompanied by his wife (who works in educational science at UT) and three young children. The family will take up residence on the University of Kentucky campus for the duration of his grant period.
