Music-based biofeedback to reduce tibial shock in over-ground running: a proof-of-concept study

Pieter Van Den Berghe,Marc Leman,Dirk De Clercq,Joren Six,Valerio Lorenzoni,Rud Derie,Joeri Gerlo

doi:10.1038/s41598-021-83538-w

Abstract

Methods to reduce impact in distance runners have been proposed based on real-time auditory feedback of tibial acceleration. These methods were developed using treadmill running. In this study, we extend these methods to a more natural environment with a proof-of-concept. We selected ten runners with high tibial shock. They used a music-based biofeedback system with headphones in a running session on an athletic track. The feedback consisted of music superimposed with noise coupled to tibial shock. The music was automatically synchronized to the running cadence. The level of noise could be reduced by reducing the momentary level of tibial shock, thereby providing a more pleasant listening experience. The running speed was controlled between the condition without biofeedback and the condition of biofeedback. The results show that tibial shock decreased by 27% or 2.96 g without guided instructions on gait modification in the biofeedback condition. The reduction in tibial shock did not result in a clear increase in the running cadence. The results indicate that a wearable biofeedback system aids in shock reduction during over-ground running. This paves the way to evaluate and retrain runners in over-ground running programs that target running with less impact through instantaneous auditory feedback on tibial shock.

Highlights

Pieter Van den Berghe 1*, Valerio Lorenzoni[2], Rud Derie 1, Joren Six 2, Joeri Gerlo 1, Marc Leman 2 & Dirk De Clercq 1
Various studies have focused on the reduction in tibial shock[1,4,5,6,7], presumably because the magnitude of the tibial shock has been associated with tibial stress fracture susceptibility
Tibial shock scores were reduced by 27% to 8.19 ± 1.79 g (p1 = 0.001, z = −2.803, rES = 0.627, mean negative rank = 5.50, absolute range: −0.94 to −7.14 g; relative range: −7 to –53%) in the biofeedback condition (Fig. 3 a), and this without guided instruction on gait modification

Summary

Introduction

Pieter Van den Berghe 1*, Valerio Lorenzoni[2], Rud Derie 1, Joren Six 2, Joeri Gerlo 1, Marc Leman 2 & Dirk De Clercq 1. Methods to reduce impact in distance runners have been proposed based on real-time auditory feedback of tibial acceleration These methods were developed using treadmill running. The results indicate that a wearable biofeedback system aids in shock reduction during over-ground running This paves the way to evaluate and retrain runners in over-ground running programs that target running with less impact through instantaneous auditory feedback on tibial shock. The concept of real-time biofeedback for lower impact running was further developed by Wood and Kipp, who provided auditory biofeedback in the form of pitched “beeps” scaled relative to a runner’s baseline of peak tibial acceleration[13] This simple auditory feedback was found to be effective for tibial shock reduction compared to the visual biofeedback during a short run on a treadmill in the laboratory[14]. The whole wearable music-based biofeedback system opens the possibility to test whether runners can reduce the cyclic shock experienced in the lower extremities with the aid of a runner-friendly form of auditory biofeedback

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion