Keeping active and getting regular exercise is important for our general health and wellbeing, but it doesn’t come without associated risks and sports injuries are by no means uncommon.
Research from the University of Bath shows although serious injury risks from the majority of sports and other forms of exercise are “astonishingly” small, it’s still important to take steps to prevent incidents through the use of protective equipment, education and rule/law changes.
Interestingly, one particular avenue for injury prevention in sport is artificial intelligence (AI) – and the University of Portsmouth has just developed a smart insoles system that measures how your body interacts with the ground.
The TG0 Smart Insole features inbuilt pressure sensors and an inertial measurement unit to track movement and foot pressure, with AI predicting ground reaction forces with a 4.16 per cent error rate.
For injury prevention, these insoles can be used to track movements accurately, helping people to optimise their training and keep injuries at bay. They could also help with rehabilitation if you do find sustain an injury of some kind.
Interestingly, these products were initially designed to improve diabetic foot care, helping to provide early detection of high-pressure areas in the feet, allowing healthcare providers to take preventative measures.
Dr Tim Exell, senior lecturer in biomechanics and rehabilitation science, said: “This partnership has really highlighted the benefit of collaboration to bring together different skill sets.
“All human movement, whether in elite sports, recreational activities or rehabilitation, is caused by forces and being able to accurately measure those forces outside a lab environment is a game changer to improve sporting performance, identify injury risks and improve recovery after injury or other conditions.”
Physio for sports injuries
While we wait for these AI-powered insoles to become readily available, you can always get in touch with Clear Physio for both injury prevention and rehabilitation. If you’d like to find out more, get in touch with the team today.
