Athletes Step Up to the Plates at Thompson

Thompson Health Rehabilitation Services will be bringing along some new technology when its outpatient location moves next month (see story). The department recently acquired force plates, which provide movement analysis for therapists as they develop treatment plans for their patients.

“Force plates have previously only been available at universities and labs and are used to analyze the ground reaction force of athletes during physical exercises like jumping, landing, and squatting,” said Senior Sports/Orthopaedic Physical Therapist Mohan Babu. “The plates detect and measure accelerations, reactions, and athlete imbalances to provide insights to support rehabilitation processes as well as athlete overall readiness to return to play.”

Thompson’s force plates, the ForceDecks Dual Force Plate System, are manufactured by Vald Performance. Mohan said the system also can be used in the rehabilitation process for biofeedback related to sport-specific movements and can allow comparisons to normative data for that athlete’s sport.

“With these new metrics/data, we are better able to determine a patient’s progress in therapy as well as identify deficiencies,” he added. “I’m excited to bring this technology to our patients allowing us to continue to provide the best possible care to our community.”

For a video demonstration of the ForceDecks Force Plate technology, visit https://valdperformance.com/forcedecks/#forcedecks.

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