A new invention being manufactured in Brisbane by a Queensland University of Technology (QUT) spin-off company is set to change the face of elite sports science and save professional sports clubs hundreds of millions of dollars in lost player time in the process.
Vald Performance, based in Brisbane, is manufacturing the NordBord Hamstring Testing System which measures the strength of athletes' hamstrings.
According to Vald Performance chief executive officer Laurie Malone, hamstring injuries are the most common form of sports injury.
Manufactured in Australia, and in part by Brisbane-based metalwork company Minecorp, the testing system is already sent to sporting organisations around the world, including eight English Premier League soccer teams, nine AFL teams, five Rugby World Cup national teams, four NRL teams and five to different National Institutes of Sport.
Vald Performance was set up with the help of QUT’s technology transfer company qutbluebox and last year received a federal government Accelerating Commercialisation grant to boost the commercialisation process.
A NordBord prototype was initially invented and built by QUT exercise scientist and Institute for Health and Biomedical Information (IHBI) member, Dr Tony Shield, and former QUT PhD student Dr David Opar.
Based on the well-known hamstring exercise, the Nordic curl, the device allows clinicians, coaches and high performance staff to accurately determine the 'eccentric strength of the hamstring, with injuries most often occuring in athletes with poor strength or strength imbalances.
More information: www.qut.edu.au