BME 3600 Lab:
Lab #2: Balance Control
Testing With Sports HelmetsLab Due Date: 10/12/18
Lab Section: 003L
By: Abdullah Mawla
Partners: Michael Parnas, Emily Borges, Alexander Thesholashvili, Amina Seidi
Introductio
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BME 3600 Lab:
Lab #2: Balance Control
Testing With Sports HelmetsLab Due Date: 10/12/18
Lab Section: 003L
By: Abdullah Mawla
Partners: Michael Parnas, Emily Borges, Alexander Thesholashvili, Amina Seidi
Introduction:
The objective of this lab is explore the effects of center of pressure (COP) on the humanMawla 1
body and how it affects body balance. To test COP on the human body, four different sport
helmets are used at two different positions. The use of the devices in the lab will help give an
understanding of the effects of the different helmets on the COP of the human body. While using
sports helmets; COP majorly affect performance in sports. Yes it might seem like the helmets
most important function is to protect the athlete, but they also have effects on the athlete’s
performance. “It is known that the velocity and/or variance of the GCP in the habitual vertical
posture are lower in athletes specializing in different sports than in nonathletes [2, 3]” (Melnikov
and Malakho). This explains how the velocity and COP of athletes are lower than non-athletes
because athletes are trained to have a good balance. Demand for more research on this type of
experiment came up recently due to an increase in brain injuries in sports related fields. It is
believed that one way sports can be more safe and produce less injuries is by improving the
designs of sports helmets. So in this lab, different helmets will be tested using biomedical
devices like AMTI force and BioAnalysis to be able to differentiate the efficiency of each helmet
type. The performance of an athlete is very important, and sport’s helmets affect that
performance highly because they affect the balance of the athlete. Balance might not sound like a
very serious aspect of sports, but the fact is that balance is everything in almost all sports. “The
speed of center-of-pressure (COP) movements and area of the statokinesiogram were
evaluated”(Arkov and Shkurnikov). In another experiment, they tested COP of athletes of
different sports. They evaluated the speed and the area of the COP to analyze their data and
conclude their experiment. The four different helmets that will be tested in the lab are ones for
sports that rely mainly on balance. The helmets will be tested at two different positions; quiet
standing position and a raised leg position. Having two different positions will help with having
an extra set of data to analyze. It will also test COP at a position with a higher pressure, which is
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