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Des-Moines Register - Health Lights, cameras, movement By TONY LEYS Register Staff Writer 06/16/2001 The same high-tech equipment that brings modern cartoon characters to life is now helping central Iowans cope with injuries and disease. Des Moines University - Osteopathic Medical Center has assembled a $250,000 Human Performance Lab, which uses special cameras and computers to track movements that cause pain and disability. Physical therapist Bryan Heiderscheit says the lab will lead to better treatments for a broad range of injuries and illnesses that hamper people's movements. The beneficiaries will range from sore athletes to victims of stroke, cerebral palsy and Parkinson's disease. Doctors already know that many of these people are moving incorrectly. The new system allows them to see exactly what's going on before they decide on a treatment, such as surgery or exercise. "I like to equate it to an X-ray," Heiderscheit said. Before X-rays were invented, people could guess fairly accurately if they had broken a bone, he said. "But the X-ray could show exactly where the fracture was." Heiderscheit demonstrated the new system Friday, using staff member Sarah Todd as a model. Heiderscheit carefully attached small rubber balls covered in reflective tape onto Todd's body and limbs. Todd then stepped onto a 14-by-28-foot platform ringed by eight cameras. As Todd moved around the platform, strobe lights attached to the cameras shot pulses of ultraviolet light at her. The light bounced off the reflectors and rebounded to the cameras. The cameras then sent a stream of images to a powerful computer, which combined them into a three-dimensional blue-and-red figure striding across a screen. Animators use these systems to create realistic movie characters. Heiderscheit uses his to compare his patients' movements with a healthy person's. He can also use electronic sensors to measure how hard individual muscles are working to create each motion. The tests usually take from one to three hours and cost $200 to $1,200. Insurance plans will often cover the expense if a doctor can show it is needed, Heiderscheit said. Before the new lab opened, local physicians often sent patients out of state for such analysis. The university also will rent the lab out for use by others, such as golfers who want to study and improve their swings. http://desmoinesregister.com/news/stories/c4788996/15036216.html ********** ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn