The University of Calgary's Human Performance Lab is world renowned for developing technology to assist amateur and recreational athletes and researchers have now come up with new technology to accurately analyze running-related injuries.

Running is a popular sport and research has shown that about 50 percent of runners sustain a running related injury each year.

Running gait analysis is used by health professionals to help them understand the root cause of running injuries and until now, they have had to rely on 2D approaches, observation and opinions for assessment.

Reed Ferber, a researcher in the Faculty of Kinesiology, has developed the run3 system, which uses a single camera to provide a 3D biomechanical gait analysis that is easier to use and less expensive than traditional methods.

The system does not require the placement of markers on the runner’s body and a gait analysis can be conducted in less than five minutes.

The system is affordable for most clinics and costs $250 a month for the software licence and about $150 for the Microsoft Kinect 2.0 camera.

“It’s a $150 camera so you can go down to Best Buy, you can go down to Walmart buy it right now, download our software and with millimeter accuracy, you can do a scientific gait analysis,” said Ferber.

"This could be a game-changer," said Jeremy Deere, former national running competitor and the owner of Strides Running Stores in Calgary. "In the past, we would never be able to afford a 3D gait system of this level. Now with the Run3 system, we can have results in minutes, have solid recommendations to help improve gait and fit clients with the correct shoes."

The run3 system maps the surface of the patient’s body in real-time as they move and the software compares the image with a model made from the patient’s baseline data or a statistical model from a global database of biomechanical and clinical data.

Ashley Johnston is a recreational obstacle race runner and has a recurring pain in her left knee.

It’s her third visit to the Human Performance Lab and she says being able to visualize her stride makes it easier to make modifications.

“It's hard if someone just tells you how to fix your running, you don't really know what they're saying, but when I can actually see my body, I can actually see that my stride is too short, or that my body is a little back, so it's really easy to visualize, so it's easier to change it,” she said.

“It’s a precision medicine approach to get the right people, the right treatment at the right time and that’s one of our specializations is the prediction capabilities based on our technology,” said Ferber.

Ferber says the system has been up and running for the last six weeks and he is getting inquiries from all over the world. 

The run3 system has been incorporated into the Running Injury Clinic’s advanced 3D GAIT system and the team hopes to have it in 100 clinics around the world by the end of the year.

If you have knee pain and are currently seeing a licensed healthcare practitioner (for example, physiotherapist, chiropractor) for treatment and want to be involved in the research, contact Reed Ferber at rferber@ucalgary.ca.