Understanding Second ACL Injury Risk with a Smart Sensor
Official title: Clinically Assessed Risk Factors for a Second ACL Injury Using an Innovative Wearable Sensor
Funded at Virginia Polytechnic Inst and St Univ · NIH-11123992 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This project aims to find out which factors, measured with a new wearable sensor, put adolescent athletes at risk for tearing their ACL again after surgery.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Virginia Polytechnic Inst and St Univ NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Blacksburg, United States) |
| Project start | July 28, 2021 |
| Project end | May 31, 2027 |
| Funding year | 2025 |
| Award (this year) | $481,884 |
| NIH project number | 5R01AR078811-04 |
| Project ID | NIH-11123992 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Ideal candidates would be adolescent athletes who have undergone ACL reconstruction and are preparing to return to sports.
✕Less likely to help
Patients who have not had an ACL injury or reconstruction, or who are not adolescent athletes, would not directly benefit from this specific research.
What this research studies
Many young athletes who have ACL surgery and return to sports face a high risk of re-injuring their ACL. Doctors currently clear athletes based on standard tests, but these don't always catch subtle issues like muscle weakness or uneven movement patterns. This project uses a new wearable sensor to measure these movement patterns in a regular clinic setting, which is much easier than expensive lab tests. By combining traditional tests with data from this sensor, we hope to better understand who is truly ready to return to play safely. This could help prevent future injuries and improve long-term health for athletes.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this work could lead to better ways for doctors to decide when an athlete is truly ready to return to sports after an ACL injury, potentially preventing a second injury.
How similar studies have gone: While lab-based studies have shown that movement asymmetries increase re-injury risk, this project introduces a novel approach to measure these asymmetries in a standard clinical setting using a wearable sensor.
Where this research is happening
-
Virginia Polytechnic Inst and St Univ
Blacksburg, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Queen, Robin M — Virginia Polytechnic Inst and St Univ
- Study coordinator: Queen, Robin M
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About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.