Sex-Based Differences in the Drop Vertical Jump as Revealed by Video Motion Capture Analysis Using Artificial Intelligence

Abstract

Background: Sex-based biomechanical differences during a drop vertical jump (DVJ) may explain the increased risk of anterior cruciate ligament injury in females. Video motion capture using artificial intelligence (VMocap) is a new method for accurate motion analysis. Purpose: To use VMocap to identify sex-based differences in biomechanics during a DVJ in Asian athletes. Study Design: Controlled laboratory study. Methods: A total of 63 female and 61 male Asian soccer players volunteered for this study in 2018. Participants performed a bilateral DVJ using VMocap, and the knee valgus angle (KVA), knee flexion angle (KFA), hip flexion angle (HFA), and lower leg anterior inclination angle (LAIA) were calculated from the motion capture data. These joint angles and inclination angles were evaluated at the time of highest point of the first jump (H1), initial contact (IC), maximum knee flexion (MKF), toe-off (TO), and highest point of the second jump (H2). The unpaired t test was used to compare sex-based differences. Results: At H1, the KVA in females showed more valgus (−2.9° vs −5.4°) and the LAIA in females was greater (29.1° vs 25.7°) versus males ( P < .01 for both). At IC, the KVA in females showed more valgus (−1.3° vs −3.0°) and females had a greater KFA (20.8° vs 14.3°) and LAIA (5.1° vs 0.0°) compared with males ( P < .01 for all). At MKF, female KVA showed more valgus (6.2° vs −9.5°), and females had greater LAIA (36.6° vs 34.6°), smaller KFA (77.5° vs 87.5°), and smaller HFA (55.8° vs 82.0°) compared with males ( P < .01 for all). At TO, female KVA showed more valgus (−0.7° vs −3.1°) and female KFA, HFA, and LAIA were greater (31.7° vs 19.2°; 19.9° vs 16.4°; and 18.2° vs 11.5°, respectively) than males ( P < .01 for all). At H2, females had a greater KFA (18.6° vs 14.6°) and LAIA (13.3° vs 9.9°) than males ( P < .04 for both). Conclusion: Asian female soccer players showed increased KVA and LAIA, decreased KFA and HFA at MKF, and increased KFA at IC and TO compared with their male counterparts in this analysis of the DVJ. Clinical Relevance: Elucidation of kinematic differences between the sexes can aid in predicting injuries.

The Effect of an 8 Week Neuromuscular Training Program on Knee Movement Biomechanics in African American Female Athletes

“…Drop vertical jump is widely used as an evaluation and screening tool that simulates the biomechanics of landing. Previous researches have reported sex-based differences in the DVJ or similar landing tasks, with differences existing in biomechanical aspects, such as knee flexion, valgus, and normalized vertical ground reaction force (Hewett, Myer, & Ford, 2004;Hewett et al, 2005;Hughley, Ford, Myer, Johnson, & Yoon, 2019;Kawaguchi et al, 2021).…”

Kinematic Differences Between the Dominant and Nondominant Legs During a Single-Leg Drop Vertical Jump in Female Soccer Players

“…The participants were instructed to perform the DVJ as described in previous studies, 16,23 but these instructions were modified so that participants could perform the DVJ with a single leg. First, the participants were to perform a single-leg DVJ on the right foot; second, they performed it on the left foot.…”

“…This study utilized video motion capture with artificial intelligence (VMocap). 23 The operating procedures and accuracy of VMocap were previously validated. 34 VMocap provides iterative imaging of a human skeletal model of the participant being filmed with measurements of the joint angles calculated from multicamera images.…”

“…The project includes athletes from other sports and male and female soccer players. 22,23,39 Among them are female soccer players who played competitively on high school and college teams. The sports injury prevention project was approved by the institutional review board of our institution (11907-2).…”

“…Next, inverse kinematic computation minimizes the error between the virtual marker positions and the skeletal model's joint position. This allowed us to analyze each athlete's movements and identify the joint angles throughout the DVJ motions 23 (Figure 1).…”