Baylor Motion and Sports Performance Center

The Baylor Motion and Sports Performance Center uses innovative and highly technical ways to study human movement and determine better ways to perform surgery, recovery and therapy techniques as well as help athletes perfect their sport.

Precise measurements and evaluation of human motion are captured by accurately measuring segment positions, joint rotations, joint forces and subsequent muscular activity with highly specialized equipment.

One of the first laboratories in the world to have the revolutionary new Vicon MX system, The Baylor Motion and Sports Performance Center utilizes 12 MX40 Motion Capture cameras with a high-speed 4.0-million pixel sensor. The cameras record up to 10,000 frames per second using a 10-bit grayscale precision, which allows motion to be captured with superior accuracy, speed and reliability. These cameras record the patient's movement from different angles. The views are then combined and sent to a bank of computers that creates numerical measurements of the movement. These measurements allow doctors to more closely diagnose pain associated with orthopaedic problems. For example, pain felt in the low back during walking may be caused by a problem in the knee or hip. Such close diagnosis can decrease the length of treatment and help to eliminate pain more quickly.

Patients with clinical problems such as sports injuries, cerebral palsy, arthritis, ligament injury, knee and hip replacement, foot and ankle injury, stroke and other disorders are seen in the laboratory so experts can study their movements for motion analysis.

The laboratory is also used for research studies on a variety of musculoskeletal disorders and neurological disorders. Investigators compare the effects of differing surgical techniques, evaluate the long-term effects of specific surgeries and test new bracing techniques, as well as monitor patient progress.

The Baylor Motion and Sports Performance Center is located at the Tom Landry Center at Baylor University Medical Center. For more information or for a referral, please call (214) 820-6300.