I recently read an article dealing with the Human Performance Laboratory at Barnes Jewish Hospital in St. Louis. This laboratory is a high-tech facility designed to analyze human motion. The data generated in this lab is passed to clinicians to help patients' regain the ability to walk, to evaluate the potential benefit of surgery, and for many other purposes. The combination of electrodes, video cameras, and computers used in the lab to study the patients allows researchers to precisely analyze movement in people with cerebral palsy, spinal bifida (the physical problem dealing with the exposed end of the spinal cord), and other diseases that affect muscular function. The lab is also used to study the flexibility and movement of athletes and dancers. I found this to be an interesting topic because I did not realize how much research is put into the study of motion. Furthermore, this article intrigued me to see how athletes or dancers flexibility could be studied and used to analyze a crippled patient and help them regain mobility. Human performance is an important part of our lives that most people take for granted until they lose it. ...
