Achilles Tensiometry

Tendinopathy is a common injury in classical ballet caused by prolonged stresses in the Achilles tendon. Unfortunately, scientific literature lacks quantitative data relating these stresses in dancers to tendinopathy. Additionally, most existing techniques for measuring tendon stresses dramatically limit the mobility of the tendon or require invasive surgery. We are leveraging a new technique (introduced at the University of Wisconsin–Madison) that allows us to calculate tendon stresses by non-invasively measuring the speed of shear waves in the tendon. We are using this method to collect data from ballet dancers at the BYU Department of Dance to quantify tendon stress in order to better predict and prevent tendinopathy.