An innocuous board, four feet square, is the next-generation tool helping Mizzou athletes react — react quicker, react smarter and potentially prevent injuries such as concussions. Brett Hayes, Director of Therapy Services at the MU Human Performance Institute, uses the Dynavision D2 to train athletes’ eyesight and improve their peripheral vision.

“That really is the key to true athleticism,” Hayes says. Peripheral vision “captures your attention for things soon to come into view.”

The normal range of vision is 190 degrees, but the peripheral vision adds that little bit beyond and behind your sight. For an athlete, anticipation in these marginal areas can mean the difference between a spectacular catch and a ball falling harmlessly to the ground. Or, more so, the difference in a win and a loss.

The D2 board has a black background with a starburst of 64 small, lighted targets. The center screen flashes numbers or letters to ensure an athlete doesn’t cheat. According to Hayes, the athletes must yell whatever number they see and hit the corresponding light. “That forces them to focus their central vision and use their peripheral to react.”

Hayes might tell an athlete to hit lights on the right side with their left hand. That confusion challenges the hand-eye coordination and builds proficiency in what is called choice-reaction time — the moment between when a person catches that glimpse of movement and the time he or she begins reaching a hand toward the light.

“We’ll make a game out of it: who’s getting a better score? You can time it as you would a 40-yard dash,” he says.

But this digital Whac-A-Mole also trains athletes to become more aware of their surroundings. On the field, that might mean anticipating other moving bodies that could cause an injury.

“We’re finding this helpful for concussion management,” Hayes says. “So many companies are working toward making better helmets, better equipment, things we’ve been doing over the years, yet concussions haven’t really improved that much. We think when an athlete can see their peripheral vision quicker and react to it quicker, they can avoid a lot of the collisions.”

An initial research study of the football team at the University of Cincinnati indicated a significant link between visual training and a reduced number of concussions. In other words, the future of sports safety might just be right in front of our eyes.

Photos Courtesy of MU Health Care

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Tune In: 11th Annual Radiothon

Benefiting MU Children's Hospital, the Miracles For Kids Radiothon will take place Thursday and Friday with a goal of surpassing last year’s $185,000 total.

In 2016, MU Children’s Hospital saw 43,000 patients. Not 43,000 visits; 43,000 children whose pediatric needs brought them to the largest and most comprehensive pediatric care center in mid-Missouri. Those children and their “Miracle Families” will be the focus of Columbia’s airwaves later this week.

Children’s Miracle Network, the Missouri Credit Union and Zimmer Radio Group will team up to host the 11th annual Miracles for Kids Radiothon on Thursday and Friday, February 16-17. Local Zimmer radio stations (93.9 FM The Eagle, 94.3 FM KAT Country, 99.3 FM Clear 99 and 106.9 FM Y107) will broadcast the Radiothon both days from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., during which listeners will hear from patients and their families about health and healing, as well as department directors and staff members.

“Although each child’s story is different, what they have in common is a team of ‘miracle makers’ — from the patients themselves, to their families, to the staff and physicians here at Children’s Hospital, and throughout our community,” says Timothy Fete, M.D., medical director of Children’s Hospital. “Efforts like the Radiothon show us all that coming together can have a huge effect on the lives of our smallest patients.”

One of 170 Children’s Miracle Network hospitals across the country (and one of five in Missouri), MU Children’s Hospital has access to national partners and brands who assist in fundraising throughout the year. But even with national relationships, every penny raised through fundraising and Radiothon efforts will stay in mid-Missouri, supporting purchases for the latest pediatric medical technology and funding various patient care programs — think music therapy, school teachers and child life services.

“I think our staff and supporters really understand and appreciate the fact that our fundraising efforts will 100 percent stay local,” says Kristen J. Fritschie, coordinator for the Children’s Miracle Network with MU Health Care. Throughout the past 10 years, the Radiothon has raised more than $2 million. This year, they hope to surpass last year’s total of $185,000.

“These employees love to support something they know that is going to come back and benefit their patients,” Fritschie says. “I’m not a doctor, and I’m not a nurse. So while I can’t medically save their lives, I feel like I am helping improve the quality of their lives every day.”

Whether you’re a member of the Mizzou family in Columbia, around that state or across the country, you can rally behind the patients at MU Children’s Hospital and become part of the ‘miracle maker’ team by donating here or calling 866- 970-GIVE.

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Bodies in Motion

Using motion-capture technology, the Missouri Orthopedic Institute visualizes and quantifies human motion.

Avatar actors in black suits, covered head-to-toe in Ping-Pong ball shaped diodes might come to mind when you hear the words “motion capture.” But they’re not making computer-animated films in Columbia. Using the Dynamic Athletics Research Institute (DARI) markerless motion capture system, the Missouri Orthopedic Institute has been using motion-capture technology to help athletes and patients stay at the top of their game.

DARI, a Kansas-based company, has been working with MOI for the past four years to test the various applications of “The DARI system,” as they call it, as it has evolved. The current iteration of the system consists of eight small cameras positioned at multiple angles that are able to discern where a person’s joints are without the need for diode-covered suits, while collecting bio-mechanical data based on the subject’s movements. According to Ryan Comeau, DARI managing partner and owner, the system wasn’t always this paired down. “We are like night and day when it comes to the capability of the technology at this point,” Comeau says. “We’ve lowered the technology footprint from 18 cameras to eight cameras, and the technology is now fully mobile.”

Brett Hayes, director of therapy services for MOI, sees the DARI system’s accuracy in collecting data as one of its key components. “You could have 10 people look at the same patient and all 10 would come up with slightly differently results,” Hayes says. “This quantifies down to the most minute degree. It is always telling you the most specific amount of data in someone’s movement.”

Created with the goal of making precise bio-mechanical data more accessible to clinicians, the DARI system measures quantifiable data associated with movement — the kinematic analysis, the angles, the speeds, velocity and rotations, the ground forces and the joint stress caused by the feet.
 

Though Hayes notes that the DARI system was originally created with measuring athletic performance in mind, they have found significant medical applications for the technology, specifically with total hip or knee replacement patients. According to Hayes, they can get a baseline of a patient’s mobility before they undergo surgery. Then, repeat the tests at various intervals following the surgery to compare data and understand mobility improvements over time.

As the first clinical application of the DARI motion capture system, MOI has remained ahead of the curve using this technology to its fullest potential, while DARI has continued to expand.

“They’ve grown very quick and they’re setting up systems all over the NFL and collegiate athletics.” Hayes says. “We’re not alone anymore.” Even so, DARI’s relationship with MOI remains strong as they continue to roll out their latest innovations. “We are really looking forward to all the new things this second phase of our relationship is going to take on,” Comeau says.

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