Design and Validation of a Software Tool to Improve Methods
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
DESIGN AND VALIDATION OF A SOFTWARE TOOL TO IMPROVE METHODS FOR CREATING CUSTOM ANALYSES OF MOTION CAPTURE DATA: ANALYSIS OF QUARTERBACK THROWING BIOMECHANICS BASED UPON A COACHING PERSPECTIVE A Thesis by HUNTER WESTON STORACI Submitted to the Office of Graduate and Professional Studies of Texas A&M University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF SCIENCE Chair of Committee, Michael R. Moreno Committee Members, Steven F. Crouse Michael L. Madigan Head of Department, Anthony Guiseppi-Elie May 2017 Major Subject: Biomedical Engineering Copyright 2017 Hunter W. Storaci ABSTRACT The goal of this work was to develop a software platform to synchronize and facilitate the way in which researchers perform custom analysis of motion capture (MOCAP) data. The software was developed using Python and contains both frontend and backend tools to accomplish this goal. It includes a user interface which allows users to: access MOCAP trial data, view corresponding video files, display results of custom-programmed analyses, bulk analyze data, compile and save results, and generate PDF reports over the analysis. The backend contains a set of tools which: allow for easy access of MOCAP data stored in the C3D file format, establish a framework which future custom MOCAP analysis can follow, and efficiently stores results in a platform-independent, serialized, data file which can be opened at a later time for additional statistical processing of results. To validate the software platform a human subjects research study was designed to analyze quarterback (QB) throwing biomechanics in a manner consistent with what football coaches are teaching to players. Interviews were conducted with eight coaches from the middle school and high school levels to establish the common “coaching points” being taught to players. A custom marker-set was designed for the study, and fifteen QBs (ages 12-18, mean 15.1) were brought in for data capture. Subjects were asked to perform three throws (hitch, corner, comeback), each using a different foot pattern (quick game, 3-step drop, rollout), to each side of the field. Throwing data was captured using a twelve-camera Vicon Motion Capture System (Vantage V16), and four AMTI force plates (OR6-6-1000). ii Custom analyses were programmed to examine the coaching points from the interviews: elbow flexion, balance throughout the throwing motion, release time, release orientation, analysis of the stride, accuracy of the throw, and the hip leading angle were the points of interest. Additional analyses, from both the QB work and a separate MOCAP study, were programmed by undergraduate researchers in the lab, to verify the use of the software’s usefulness to multiple users and applications. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS To my parents, for their unwavering support in everything that I have done throughout my life. I owe it all to you. Thank you and I love you! My advisor, Dr. Michael Moreno, thank you for all of the guidance over the years, allowing me to take on this project even though it was not what we originally agreed upon, and always being there for your grad students as we try to navigate life away from home. All of the students in the BMEL: Aaron, Andrew, Brandon, Caleb, Lise, Mingliang, and Steve, thank you for accepting me into our weird little family and always being willing to discuss questions and provide insight and ideas. A big thanks to Andrew for the countless discussions on software and design, this project was just as much your idea as it was mine. To Andrea, Eric, and the Shannons, for helping on the long study days and nights. To my siblings and friends, thank you for always listening and distracting me just enough to keep me sane. Kevin - you weren’t the hero I deserved, you were the one I needed. Thank you to the Physical Education and Activities Program at A&M for allowing us to use their facilities to run the football studies. iv NOMENCLATURE BMEL Biomechanical Environments Laboratory GUI Graphical User Interface MOCAP Motion Capture PEAP Physical Education and Activities Program SARA Symmetrical Axis of Rotation Analysis SCoRE Symmetrical Center of Rotation Estimation v CONTRIBUTORS AND FUNDING SOURCES Contributors This work was supervised by a thesis committee consisting of Professor Michael Moreno of the Mechanical Engineering Department, Professor Michael Madigan of the Biomedical Engineering Department, and Professor Stephen Crouse of the Department of Health and Kinesiology. All work for this thesis was completed by the student in collaboration with Andrew Robbins of the Department of Biomedical Engineering, at Texas A&M University. Funding Sources There are no outside funding contributions to acknowledge related to the research and compilation of this document. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ABSTRACT ...................................................................................................................................................... ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ......................................................................................................................... iv NOMENCLATURE ........................................................................................................................................ v CONTRIBUTORS AND FUNDING SOURCES .................................................................................. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS ............................................................................................................................. vii LIST OF FIGURES ........................................................................................................................................ xi LIST OF TABLES ........................................................................................................................................ xvi CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................. 1 1.1 Background and Motivation ................................................................................... 1 1.1.1 Software Framework ......................................................................................... 1 1.1.2 Quarterback Throwing Biomechanics ............................................................... 2 1.2 Problem .................................................................................................................. 3 1.2.1 Software Package .............................................................................................. 3 1.2.2 Quarterback Throwing Biomechanics ............................................................... 4 1.3 Specific Aims ......................................................................................................... 5 1.3.1 Specific Aim 1 ................................................................................................... 5 1.3.2 Specific Aim 2 ................................................................................................... 6 1.3.3 Specific Aim 3 ................................................................................................... 6 1.3.4 Specific Aim 4 ................................................................................................... 6 1.4 Significance ............................................................................................................ 7 1.5 Delimitations .......................................................................................................... 7 1.6 Limitations ............................................................................................................. 8 CHAPTER II LITERATURE REVIEW .................................................................................................. 10 2.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................ 10 2.2 Quarterback Throwing Biomechanics .................................................................... 10 2.2.1 Kinetic and Kinematic Analysis ...................................................................... 10 2.2.2 Electromyography Analysis ............................................................................ 19 2.2.3 Additional Sources .......................................................................................... 20 vii 2.3 Motion Analysis Software ...................................................................................... 22 2.3.1 C3D File Format .............................................................................................. 22 2.3.2 Kinematic Analysis and Modeling .................................................................. 22 Visual3D ............................................................................................................... 22 Vicon BodyBuilder & Polygon ............................................................................ 23 BTK, Mokka, and Open MA ................................................................................ 23 BodyMech & the HuMAnS Toolbox ................................................................... 24 2.3.3 Musculoskeletal Modeling .............................................................................. 24 OpenSim (SimTK) ............................................................................................... 24 Biomechanics of Bodies (BoB) ............................................................................ 25 AnyBody .............................................................................................................