Evidence Based Apparel®

Alignmed is Evidence Based Apparel® Our mission is to combine clinical expertise and biomedical research to create products that have specific biomechanical, neuromuscular or physiological effects on the human body. These scientifically proven products:

• Reduce Pain
• Improve Recovery
• Prevent Injuries
• Increase Sports Performance

Technology behind Evidence Based Apparel® Alignmed is stationed in Santa Ana, California but works in collaboration with the world famous Steadman Philippon Research Institute and Kerlan Jobe Orthopaedic Clinic to perform experimental research on our Evidence Based Apparel®. Understanding how sports and activities of daily life stress and strain the bones and soft tissues are important first steps for new Alignmed products designed to reduce pain, improve recovery, prevent injuries and increase sports performance. We use cutting edge technology to measure the forces, motion and muscle function of human performance with and without our Evidence Based Apparel®. A description of these technologies follow. Kinetics: The Forces that Move Us We perform the activities of daily living by producing repetitive contractions in many different muscles to locomote, reach, breathe, chew, focus, etc. Internal muscle force interacts with external forces from gravity, friction and contact with other bodies to cause all observed human movements and injuries. Hence force data analysis is fundamental to understanding movement patterns and injury. A force plate is an extremely sensitive electronic scale that uses a strain-gauge based system to measure and record ground reaction forces in 3-dimensions (vertical, forward/backward, side to side). It provides information on the magnitude and timing of force application. Kinematics: The Motions The sum of all internal and external forces causes human movement. A high-speed motion capture system consists of 10 infrared digital, video cameras that allow for instantaneous motion capture up to 240 Hz (8 times faster than a camcorder). Reflective markers are placed on specific anatomical landmarks and are optically tracked with the high-speed video system. These data are used to calculate the center of joint rotation and three dimensional motions of the body's segments. Using the physical laws of motion and mathematics, these motions are combined with the force platform data to quantify dynamic joint function (joint torque and power). Electromyography: Information about the Muscles Further details on the characteristics of muscle function can be determined with electromyography (EMG). Muscle is an excitable tissue that when stimulated produces an electrochemical conversion of energy substrates to mechanical tension. The electrical signals produced within a muscle are detectable with electrodes that are either placed within the muscle or on the skin over the muscle to be monitored. Custom post-processing software determines the amount of electrical activity present in a muscle, providing information on the sequence and duration of muscle activity, fatigue and the relative amount of force produced. Bi-Plane Fluoroscopy: Seeing how the Bones Moves The most common motion capture technologies have inherent measurement errors. The magnitude of this error becomes clinically more important as the joint motions during a task (ie., running) become smaller. For example, if the ankle moves 4 degrees during running, and you're your technology can accurately detect motion within 5 degrees, than it is unlikely that any clinically relevant information can be extracted from interventions aimed at influencing this motion. The biomechanics team at the Steadman Philippon Research Institute has developed a state-of-the-art high-speed biplane fluoroscopy system that creates movies of moving bones and shows joint motion that can be tracked with sub-millimeter accuracy. About Steadman Philippon Research Institute Located in Vail, Colorado, The Steadman Philippon Research Institute is a leader in researching causes, prevention and treatment of orthopedic disorders. The Steadman Philippon Research Institute is one of the leading orthopedic research institutes in the world and has helped people of all ages remain physically active through orthopedic research and education. http://www.shsmf.org About Kerlan Jobe Orthopaedic Clinic The Kerlan Jobe Orthopaedic Clinic is a world leader in the diagnosis and treatment of orthopaedic and sports medicine injuries and illnesses. In addition to sports medicine, Kerlan Jobe specializes in all aspects of orthopaedic care, including the diagnosis and treatment of the spine, shoulder, elbow, knee, hand and foot disorders; orthopaedic trauma; arthritis; total joint replacement; congenital disorders, and work-related injuries. http://www.kerlanjobe.com.