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Scientists Use Sensors To Determine Dynamics Of Skiing On Body

VAIL, Colo. (CBS4)- What exactly happens inside the body when skiing is something researchers from the University of Denver traveled to Vail to find out.

"It's pretty common to do this in a laboratory and landing such as a volleyball lands or a basketball lands but as far as we know this is the first time anyone has ever done this with skis," said DU Mechanical Engineering Professor Dr. Bradley Davidson.

Scientists are using sensors on the skier to find out how the inside of the body works.

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A skier study at Vail hopes to show dynamics of sport (credit: CBS)

"If we know more about this kind of dynamic and how you turn and what the forces are through that you can help coach that for higher performance and also injury prevention," said Davidson. "In the knees in particular we want to understand more about the forces and loads that are transmitted from the skis up into the skier during racing."

The study not only includes a large team from DU and the U.S. Ski Team but also orthopedic doctors in Vail.

The team expects to use this information for surgical procedures and rehabilitation therapies. They believe this study could revolutionize how this technology is used for other sports.

"So being able to take the data that is so cumbersome in our lab and make it more readily available to clinicians, rehab therapists as well as sports medicine and sport performance," said Davidson.

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