Authors: Joey McConkie, Jackson Wilcox, Eli Smith, David Phair
Mentors: Christopher Dillon, Matthew S Allen
Insitution: Brigham Young University
Elevated strain in the Achilles tendon places ballet dancers at high risk for tendinopathy, which in severe cases can terminate a dancer’s career. Typical methods of measuring in vivo tendon stresses—which could be used to predict and prevent tendinopathy—are invasive, making them impractical for professional dancers. We use a portable, non-invasive, externally mounted system of one transducer and two accelerometers to generate and record vibrational motion within the tendon. The speed of sound waves propagating through the tendon is used to calculate the stresses present. The portability of the system allows it to be worn by a dancer during an actual dance routine instead of requiring measurement to be taken at a fixed location where mobility is limited. This system results in data that can noninvasively quantify tendon stresses regularly experienced by ballet dancers. The improved understanding of in situ stresses measured by this device will have great potential for improving the prediction and prevention of debilitating tendinopathy.