IMU Usage in Sports Science: Advancements in Biomechanical Assessment for ACL Injuries

This study aimed to develop and validate Inertial Measurement Units (IMU) technology for assessing biomechanical integrity in female soccer players post-anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury. Two participants, one with an 8-month ACL injury recovery and a healthy athlete, performed double-legged jump tests. Raw data was fused for robustness, and relevant characteristics in jump analysis were extracted. For accuracy testing, the knee flexion angle parameter had a standard deviation of 4.3362° compared to Kinovea software. Vertical Ground Force Reaction (vGRF) showed landing force sub-estimation against a force platform, with an inversely proportional relationship to jump ratio due to sensor saturation. Landing stability classification showed 75% accuracy for unstable landings and 100% for stable landings. Participant 1 (injured) showed Peak Jump Force (PJF) mean values of 1.1 Bodyweight (BW) on both legs, while Participant 2 (healthy) showed a disparity between legs with mean values of 0.3 BW. Peak Landing Force for Participant 1 showed a disparity of 0.2 BW, while Participant 2 mirrored the PJF disparity. Jump Ratio (JR) for Participant 1 had a mean value of 0.8, while Participant 2 had a mean value of 1.05. IMU technology demonstrates promising potential in assessing ACL injury, despite its limitations. Further validation studies are needed. © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2025.

IMU Usage in Sports Science: Advancements in Biomechanical Assessment for ACL Injuries Academic Article in Scopus