A Multi-Disciplinary Systems Approach for Modeling and Predicting Physiological Responses and Biomechanical Movement Patterns

It is currently an exciting time to be doing research at the intersection of sports and engineering. Advances in wearable sensor technology now enable large quantities of physiological and biomechanical data to be collected from athletes with minimal obstruction and cost. These technological advances, combined with an increased public awareness of the relationship between exercise, fitness, and health, has created an environment where engineering principles can be integrated with biomechanics, exercise physiology, and sports science to dramatically improve methods for physiological assessment, injury prevention, and athletic performance.

The first part of this dissertation develops a new method for analyzing heart rate (HR) and oxygen uptake (VO2) dynamics. A dynamical system model was derived based on the equilibria and stability of the HR and VO2 responses. The model accounts for nonlinear phenomena and person-specific physiological characteristics. A heuristic parameter estimation algorithm was developed to determine model parameters from experimental data. An artificial neural network (ANN) was developed to predict VO2 from HR and exercise intensity data. A series of experiments was performed to validate: 1) the ability of the dynamical system model to make accurate time series predictions for HR and VO2; 2) the ability of the dynamical system model to make accurate submaximal predictions for maximum heart rate (HRmax) and maximal oxygen uptake (VO2max); 3) the ability of the ANN to predict VO2 from HR and exercise intensity data; and 4) the ability of a system comprising an ANN, dynamical system model, and heuristic parameter estimation algorithm to make submaximal predictions for VO2max without requiring VO2 data collection. The dynamical system model was successfully validated through comparisons with experimental data. The model produced accurate time series predictions for HR and VO2 and, more importantly, the model was able to accurately predict HRmax and VO2max using data collected during submaximal exercise. The ANN was successfully able to predict VO2 responses using HR and exercise intensity as system inputs. The system comprising an ANN, dynamical system model, and heuristic parameter estimation algorithm was able to make accurate submaximal predictions for VO2max without requiring VO2 data collection.

The second part of this dissertation applies a support vector machine (SVM) to classify lower extremity movement patterns that are associated with increased lower extremity injury risk. Participants for this study each performed a jump-landing task, and experimental data was collected using two video cameras, two force plates and a chest-mounted single-axis accelerometer. The video data was evaluated to classify the lower extremity movement patterns of the participants as either excellent or poor using the Landing Error Scoring System (LESS) assessment method. Two separate linear SVM classifiers were trained using the accelerometer data and the force plate data, respectively, with the LESS assessment providing the classification labels during training and evaluation. The same participants from this study also performed several bouts of treadmill running, and an additional set of linear SVM classifiers were trained using accelerometer data and gyroscope data to classify movement patterns, with the LESS assessment again providing the classification labels during training and evaluation. Both sets of SVM's performed with a high level of accuracy, and the objective and autonomous nature of the SVM screening methodology eliminates the subjective limitations associated with many current clinical assessment tools.