Researchers want to prevent injuries in Soldiers before they happen

It is widely known that repeated jumps from a plane and long marches with heavy rucks are hard on your back and knees. But by the time a Soldier realizes that a repetitive stress is too much, it’s typically too late and they’re out of commission with an injury.

That may not always be the case, though. A research project quietly being conducted through Uniformed Services University – with the help of Soldiers from the 82nd Airborne Division – aims to use body-worn sensor devices to predict where injuries are about to happen and prevent them. The initiative is one of more than 40 research projects being conducted through USU’s MIRROR Project, an acronym for “Musculoskeletal Injury Rehabilitation Research for Operational Readiness.”

The sensor-focused injury prevention project launched in 2021 with the ambitious goal of determining a Soldier’s risk of injury. The knee was a priority area for these tests: as USU officials noted in a February release, 40% of musculoskeletal injuries involve the knee, making it by far the most common problem site.

A 2021 video featuring Maj. Matthew Helton, the 82nd’s director of Human Performance, shows footage of a Soldier wearing a brace-like smart knee sensor. As she transferred weight from one leg to another and performed other plyometric and balance-shifting exercises, a computer program tracked metrics like balance and sway.

“As a holistic health and fitness program, not only are we working on enhancing performance and helping those paratroopers who have been injured, but we’re trying to get ahead of that curve, to the left of it,” Helton said, “and be able to predict injuries so we can intervene quicker and prevent them from occurring in the first place.”

Last month’s release provided new details about the predictive sensor researchers had chosen for testing and how 82nd Airborne troops are contributing to the effort. Developed by the University of Miami, the body-worn device is called CaseSense, and includes two knee sleeves with sensors that rest above and below the kneecap, according to USU officials. During testing, study participants stand on one leg and shuffle four meters from side to side.

Through these movements, the sensor can show a Soldier’s quality of movement, and in particular, potential asymmetry between the limbs that would make stress or burden greater on one side than on the other.

Coach Chris Ruf, Baylor University Director of Athletic Performance, demonstrates movement drills Dec. 11 to Army commanders and physical fitness trainers from the 91st Engineer Battalion, 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Fred Brown, 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team Public Affairs, 1st Cav. Div.)

“The hypothesis,” the release states, “Is that individuals who have greater asymmetry between their limbs are at a greater risk for [musculoskeletal injury] than their counterparts.”

At Fort Bragg, NC, where the 82nd is based, paratroopers were offered the chance to volunteer during their Airborne Integration Course, a weeklong in-processing that includes familiarization and a fitness test.

Before they conducted the movement test, volunteers answered questions about past injuries to hips, knees, ankles, and feet. For a year after the 10-minute movement test is administered, MIRROR researchers will follow the medical records of those who participated to see if, in fact, they sustain any injuries.

Officers from the 210th Field Artillery Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division/ROK-US Combined Division, conduct physical readiness training at Carey Field during the brigade’s leader development week Oct. 13, 2015 at Camp Casey, South Korea. The tailored training routine was developed and led by the brigade’s master fitness trainer to improve officers’ knowledge of PRT. (U.S. Army)

It’s not clear if Soldiers participating in the study are informed about any prospective injury risk that might be identified. MIRROR team members at USU did not respond to Sandboxx News’ request for an interview or make themselves available to answer questions.

If the symmetry test does turn out to be a good injury predictor, the next step will be for Pentagon officials to develop a program that works with at-risk service members to strengthen problem areas and build up balance and agility. This could involve work with a physical or athletic trainer as well as targeted exercises for solo practice, according to the release.

A group of U.S. Army Paratroopers, assigned to the 82nd Airborne Division and Warrior Training Center, walks in formation to board a C-130 aircraft with their T-11 parachute during Exercise Falcon Leap on Eindhoven Air Base, Eindhoven, Netherlands., Sep. 13, 2022. (U.S. Army Reserve photo by Sgt. 1st Class Austin Berner)

“I think we have an extreme need. There are millions of dollars the DoD is spending annually on lower-extremity injuries that can be prevented,” Helton said in the release. “The people we are training, the people we are investing our time and money into, we owe it to them to give it our best. I think this [project] is an example of that.”

It’s not clear what the development timeline is for this effort or when the sensor regiment might be validated for wider use within the military. But this study, and others like it, “have the potential to help drive the next 10 to 20 years in the Army when it comes to injury prevention strategies,” Helton said.

Feature Image: A group of U.S. Army Paratroopers, assigned to the 82nd Airborne Division and Warrior Training Center, walks in formation to board the aircraft with their T-11 parachute during Exercise Falcon Leap on Eindhoven Air Base, Eindhoven, Netherlands., Sep. 13, 2022. (U.S. Army Reserve photo by Sgt. 1st Class Austin Berner)