OSU-Cascades now has another feather in their achievement cap- with a new "biomechanics" lab. 

 

Christine Pollard, Associate Professor of Exercise and Sports Science at the college and Director of the Functional Orthopedic Research Center of Excellence, or “FORCE” says this lab is truly a milestone.

 

She says it’s collaboration between the college, Therapeutic Associates and "The Center. "  She says they will analyze sports injuries to advise the patient how to optimize their performance and avoid surgery or how to work with post surgery.

 

"We’ll have a focus on youth. We’ll have a focus all the way to active individuals who have had a total knee replacement or a total hip replacement and are wanting to access how they are moving post total hip or total knee replacement. So depending upon the project, we'll have a focus across the lifespan."

 

Pollard says they will concentrate on all kinds of ortho problems, from preventative therapy to post-surgery

analyzing how to keep you healthy and moving.

 

"What’s so different about this laboratory is; typically you see a laboratory with the equipment we have its on a university campus. And so often times they're in isolation. What so unique about the force lab is this partnership between the university, orthopedic surgeons, sports medicine physicians, physical therapists, and were all in the same building, under the same roof, that really promotes that multidisciplinary type of work that we can do."

 

And she says they are not limited to athletes; they want to help all ages of people who have ortho-type issues and need to find out what their limits are.

 

Pollard says this is one of the only partnerships of its kind in the nation, and it's located at The Center Orthopedic and Neurological Care and Research.