A novel experimental analysis for the scientific study and evaluation of sprained ankle

Abstract

Ankle sprains are the most common among athletic injuries and are responsible for great time lost in athletes' practices. However, the scientific study and evaluation of this injury, in professional athletes, has received less attention. This paper presents a novel experimental analysis to scientifically study the status of athletes who suffer from ankle sprain and also to make a scientific comparison between athletes who suffer from ankle sprain, and normal cases. This evaluation can ultimately help physicians determine the best time for those cases who suffer from ankle sprain to restart their activities. In this study, three normal cases and three volunteers with a sprained ankle (sex: M, age = 17 ± 5 yr, height = 1.85 ± 0.05 m, body mass = 85 ± 10 kg, foot length = 244-245 mm) who all of them gave consent to be tested, have participated in a designated test. Four features (whole force on each foot during its mid-stance phase, mid-stance phase duration, swing phase duration, and supination torque) have been selected and extracted. Results have shown that, the first three features are essential in studying the status of athletes with sprained ankle and can be beneficial in evaluating the status of sprained ankle cases during healing process.