"Future concepts in sports medicine - space medicine, performance and AI" is what the 8th MEDICA MEDICINE + SPORTS CONFERENCE offers on 18 and 19 November as part of the world's leading medical trade fair MEDICA in Düsseldorf (date: 16 - 19 November). Prof. Volker Damann will kick us off by depicting the challenges that are inherent in training for going into space. He holds a professorship on “Human Performance in Space” at the International Space University in Strasbourg. As team doctor, he has supported numerous Soyuz and space shuttle missions. Space pilots are, generally speaking, incredibly fit people. However, going into space and remaining there for a period of time still means that they face a range of health challenges which they would normally only experience on earth if they had chronic conditions or as attending symptoms of old age. These include nausea, dizziness, breaking out in sweats, bone loss, muscle wasting and cardiac issues. Space training combats this and many findings from this sector can be transferred to performance and regeneration for sports on earth too. Prof. Damann will explain this in detail in Düsseldorf.
Using artificial intelligence (AI) to improve performance and regeneration, for example in ice hockey, is also a pioneering theme that we will be taking a look at. Karl Schwarzenbrunner uses AI to analyse ice hockey games. He’s head of the Training and Science Department at the German Ice Hockey Association and has implemented a system that links player data recorded by wearables with the data from an autonomous camera system and evaluates it in real time. To achieve this, the system must recognize players from both the team it is being used for and their opponents. The puck and a few parameters, for example those for a line rush, also need to be defined and recorded. In addition, surveys are used to record subjective performance capacity and regeneration. The data are used to run active regeneration management, prevent injuries and, last but not least, improve performance. The GET App (GET = Concussion test) can already be used in leisure sports. This app supports athletes, trainers, teachers, physiotherapists, carers and parents by enabling them to detect concussion early in sports by applying easy-to-use tests. The likelihood of a concussion can be determined within a few minutes. This is also used to make a decision on whether to return the athlete to play or take them out of the game.
Digital twins are also part of the future landscape of competitive sports. Prof. Björn Eskofier of the Friedrich-Alexander University of Erlangen-Nuremberg is an expert in the pattern matching and data analysis sector. He shows how and where digital twins can be used in sports, both today and in the future. Artificial intelligence is also applied in diagnostic systems by Prof. Dr. Roger Abächerli of the Lucerne University of Applied Arts and Sciences. He discusses how he uses AI in evaluating cardiological data in his conference speech in Düsseldorf in November.
Cognitive training as a contributor to success
The mental component of winning is illuminated by Dr. Lutz Graumann. He looks at how far the future of medicine can benefit from lessons from Formula One racing and characterises the important role that cognitive training plays in achieving success. This much is clear: To taste victory, we need more than just physical fitness. This is particularly true of team sports, including rowing (particularly in eights). Germany has consistently experienced a lot of success here. Florian Mennigen, a former professional athlete, contributed much to the German victories in this sport as a multiple world champion and Olympic winner in the eight. He works as a clinical psychologist and will appear at MEDICA MEDICINE + SPORTS CONFERENCE as a speaker, where he will discuss how winning teams are built. In the eight, synchronisation of movement and shared mental models are important. Menningen explains how this should look in the conference on Wednesday evening (18 November 2020).
Tailoring training programs to the individual
The next day, Dr. med Theodora Papadopoulou (from the UK) will explain the significance of the biopsychosocial model in sports medicine as part of the third conference session on tailoring training programs to the individual. She holds the role of Secretary General of the European Federation of Sports Medicine Associations (EFSMA) and has advanced this comprehensive systematic approach for sports medicine. This is because up until now in elite sports, health, injury and illness have always been primarily regarded from a biomedical and/or physiological perspective. Equally, we can see a “risk culture”, wherein health must be secured and risked simultaneously in order to achieve top performance. In order to be able to deal with this, mental fitness and social factors should also be integrated into diagnostics and therapy in addition to the biomedical factors.
Papadopoulou will explain how she implements this simultaneous diagnostic and therapy method in sports medicine. Looking at nutrition is also part of the bigger picture. Dr. Silvia Kolossa from Loewi gives examples of cases where specific needs and tailoring diet to the individual play a role in competitive sports. Private lecturer Dr. Peter Brücker, team physician for the German ski team, Dr. Ralf Doyscher, team physician for Borussia Mönchengladback and Prof. Dr. Borja Muniz from the University of Zaragoza examine individualised injection therapy and applying blood flow restriction training in rehabilitation.
Dr. Katharina Schöttl from the German Institute for Health and Sports (DHGS) in Munich is researching how digital technology is used by athletes, trainers and team doctors and will premier the results of her study in Düsseldorf. Prof. Dr. of Engineering Stephan Odenwald (Chemnitz University of Technology) implements technology like this in order to analyse athletes’ movement sequences, for example in speed skating, and to improve regeneration and prevention of injuries. He uses sensors to determine the impact exerted when a skater’s blade hits the ice, for example. Movement sequences can thus be documented directly during training and improved to aid prevention.
New approaches in diagnostics and wearable technology
Evidence-based diagnostics and wearable technology are on the conference programme for session 4, held on the afternoon of Thursday 19 November. Prof. Dr. Jürgen Scharhag, Head of the Institute for Sports Medicine at the University of Vienna, plans to start this session with an overview of the current sports cardiology landscape. Private lecturer Dr. Christian Werner (Bad Homburg) will continue the excitement by presenting how physical activity affects cell ageing.
International sports physicians have been developing a global standard for wearables in sports and fitness for around two years, working on behalf of European sports medicine associations. Prof. Dr. Yannis Pitsiladis of the University of Brighton, who is also head of the Sub2Hrs marathon project, tells us who this seal of approval is relevant for and what is measured.
The length of time a person spends asleep and the quality of their sleep is measured by many wearables. Both of these parameters affect performance and regeneration. Prof. Jürgen Götze of TU Dortmund University shows the latest research in sleep diagnostics and new approaches that enable more insight into and improved understanding of complex topic of sleep.
Digital biomarkers, identifiable data patterns from different sources that elicit a diagnostic or prognostic benefit, are becoming increasingly important for evidence-based diagnostics. In this area, sweat could be a source of information for the next generation of digital biomarkers. Dr. Noé Karl Brasier of the University Hospital of Basel will explain this in his conference speech.
The list of renowned partners of the 8th MEDICA MEDICINE + SPORTS CONFERENCE includes the International Federation of Sports Medicine (FIMS), the German Association for Sports Medicine and Prevention (DGSP), the German Society of Sport Science (DVS) and the WISS (The German Federal Institute for Sports Science), the European Federation of Sports Medicine Associations (EFSMA), and the American College of Sports Medicine (Exercise is Medicine initiative) and also extends to companies such as Sport Speaker, Orthogen, movX, movisens, DORNER Health IT Solutions, ledsreact, Loewi and WT Wearable Technologies.
All information and program notes on the 8th MEDICA MEDICINE + SPORTS CONFERENCE are available online at: https://www.medica-tradefair.com/mmsc2.
Author: Dr Lutz Retzlaff, freelance medical journalist (Neuss)