Hello All, This is a very interesting and lively
discussion about technology in sports and in
particular how prosthetic technology fits into
the world of athletics. There is some very
pertinent work currently being done by a
colleague of mine here (Mindy Millard-Stafford
and her doctoral student, Beth Brown) along with
a recent graduate of our MS in Prosthetics and
Orthotics program (Andy Allison). They have
recruited elite amputee long distance runners and
measured their metabolic cost and economy with
different prostheses and compared to able-bodied
controls--an abstract from Beth Brown follows
below.
Although it is true that not all athletes will
have access to this technology--I'm sure no
sprinter would be willing to lose a limb to be
able to use one of these prostheses--I think we
may be giving too much credit to the technology
and perhaps not enough to the athlete who has
overcome severe physical and social obstacles to
perform at these levels.
***PLEASE DIRECT ALL INQUIRES REGARDING THIS
RESEARCH TO MS. BETH BROWN
***
>Date: Mon, 04 Jun 2007 18:07:08 -0400
>From: Beth Brown
>To: Young-Hui Chang
>Subject: Re: Fwd: amputee running/cycling
>
>Recent work in the exercise physiology lab in the School of Applied Physiology
>at Georgia Tech addresses the question of possible advantage provided by a
>running prosthesis from a metabolic perspective.
>Six highly trained unilateral
>(n=5) and bilateral (n=1) transtibial amputee runners and six matched non-
>amputee runners were studied during an incremental treadmill running test.
>Running economy was slightly but non-significantly lower for the amputees
>running in their running-specific prosthesis at speeds between 5-8 mph.
>However, when running using their non-running-specific prosthesis (“walking
>leg”), amputees had a significantly lower running economy than their non-
>amputee counterparts. Interestingly, in their running-specific prosthesis,
>amputees were also able to achieve similar peak VO2, peak blood lactate, and
>peak treadmill speed values compared to their non-amputee counterparts. While
>the running-specific prosthesis provides a clear metabolic advantage over the
>use of a non-running specific prosthesis, it
>does not provide amputee runners a
>metabolic advantage over non-amputee runners. This unpublished data is
>presented in the American College of Sports Medicine’s (ACSM) 2007 Annual
>Meeting abstracts.
>
>Thanks!
>
>Beth
>
>--
>Mary Beth Brown, MSPT,ATC
>404-713-1697
--
*****************************************
Young-Hui Chang, Ph.D.
(FYI: it's pronounced "young-hee")
Assistant Professor
Comparative Neuromechanics Laboratory
School of Applied Physiology
Biomedical Engineering and BioEngineering Programs
Mailing Address:
Young-Hui Chang
School of Applied Physiology
Georgia Institute of Technology
281 Ferst Drive
Atlanta, GA 30332-0356
U.S.A.
404-894-9993 (office)
404-385-6489 (lab)
404-894-9982 (fax)
http://www.ap.gatech.edu/chang/CNLhome.html
** "learning how we get from here to there" **
discussion about technology in sports and in
particular how prosthetic technology fits into
the world of athletics. There is some very
pertinent work currently being done by a
colleague of mine here (Mindy Millard-Stafford
and her doctoral student, Beth Brown) along with
a recent graduate of our MS in Prosthetics and
Orthotics program (Andy Allison). They have
recruited elite amputee long distance runners and
measured their metabolic cost and economy with
different prostheses and compared to able-bodied
controls--an abstract from Beth Brown follows
below.
Although it is true that not all athletes will
have access to this technology--I'm sure no
sprinter would be willing to lose a limb to be
able to use one of these prostheses--I think we
may be giving too much credit to the technology
and perhaps not enough to the athlete who has
overcome severe physical and social obstacles to
perform at these levels.
***PLEASE DIRECT ALL INQUIRES REGARDING THIS
RESEARCH TO MS. BETH BROWN
***
>Date: Mon, 04 Jun 2007 18:07:08 -0400
>From: Beth Brown
>To: Young-Hui Chang
>Subject: Re: Fwd: amputee running/cycling
>
>Recent work in the exercise physiology lab in the School of Applied Physiology
>at Georgia Tech addresses the question of possible advantage provided by a
>running prosthesis from a metabolic perspective.
>Six highly trained unilateral
>(n=5) and bilateral (n=1) transtibial amputee runners and six matched non-
>amputee runners were studied during an incremental treadmill running test.
>Running economy was slightly but non-significantly lower for the amputees
>running in their running-specific prosthesis at speeds between 5-8 mph.
>However, when running using their non-running-specific prosthesis (“walking
>leg”), amputees had a significantly lower running economy than their non-
>amputee counterparts. Interestingly, in their running-specific prosthesis,
>amputees were also able to achieve similar peak VO2, peak blood lactate, and
>peak treadmill speed values compared to their non-amputee counterparts. While
>the running-specific prosthesis provides a clear metabolic advantage over the
>use of a non-running specific prosthesis, it
>does not provide amputee runners a
>metabolic advantage over non-amputee runners. This unpublished data is
>presented in the American College of Sports Medicine’s (ACSM) 2007 Annual
>Meeting abstracts.
>
>Thanks!
>
>Beth
>
>--
>Mary Beth Brown, MSPT,ATC
>404-713-1697
--
*****************************************
Young-Hui Chang, Ph.D.
(FYI: it's pronounced "young-hee")
Assistant Professor
Comparative Neuromechanics Laboratory
School of Applied Physiology
Biomedical Engineering and BioEngineering Programs
Mailing Address:
Young-Hui Chang
School of Applied Physiology
Georgia Institute of Technology
281 Ferst Drive
Atlanta, GA 30332-0356
U.S.A.
404-894-9993 (office)
404-385-6489 (lab)
404-894-9982 (fax)
http://www.ap.gatech.edu/chang/CNLhome.html
** "learning how we get from here to there" **