AHFE Open AccessHuman Factors in Sports, Preventive Medicine and Innovative Agonology
Editors: Roman Maciej Kalina, Jay Kalra
Topics: Healthcare and Medical Devices
Publication Date: 2025
ISBN: 978-1-964867-64-9
DOI: 10.54941/ahfe1005999
Articles
SynTec: A Low-Cost Eye-Tracking and EEG-Based Diagnostic System for Concussion Assessment in Sports
Concussions are a common form of mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI), particularly among athletes in high-impact sports. Existing diagnostic tools such as SCAT, VOMS, and EEG are limited by cost, subjectivity, or complexity. This paper presents SynTec, a novel wearable system that integrates eye-tracking and EEG technologies to support concussion screening in a compact, affordable format. A user-centered design process was employed, including stakeholder interviews, surveys (n=36), and iterative prototyping. The device supports vestibular and ocular motor assessments through eye-tracking and records electrical brain activity from frontal regions using low-cost EEG sensors. Results are processed via an accompanying mobile application. SynTec demonstrates a new direction for rapid, accessible, multi-modal concussion diagnostics, particularly for youth and amateur sports.
Mohammadmehdi Mortazavi, Min Kang, Jeff Feng
Open Access
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Conference Proceedings
Position -specific Differences in Maximal Voluntary Contraction and Rate of Force Development in Collegiate American Football Players
The ability to rapidly generate a high force is essential for sports performance. Rate of force development (RFD), which reflects the rate of force increase during explosive movements, is important in athletics. This study examined the relationship between maximal voluntary contraction (MVC) and RFD during isometric knee extension and flexion in American collegiate football players, considering position-specific differences.The participants were 25 collegiate American football players (backs; n = 15, linemen; n = 10). Isometric knee extension and flexion were measured using a Biodex dynamometer under the MVC and RFD conditions. RFD was calculated as the slope of the linear regression line from force onset to the breakpoint, which was defined as the time point at which the smallest difference in 30-ms force increments occurred within 270-ms. The MVC and RFD values were normalized to skeletal muscle mass (SMM) and expressed as MVC/SMM and RFD/SMM, respectively.Linemen exhibited higher absolute MVC values for both knee extension (linemen; 185.9 ± 37.6 Nm, backs; 164.6 ± 34.7 Nm) and flexion (linemen; 103.2 ± 23.4 Nm, backs; 99.7 ± 19.1 Nm). However, MVC/SMM was higher in backs (extension; 3.1 ± 0.68 Nm·kg⁻¹, flexion; 1.9 ± 0.38 Nm·kg⁻¹) than in linemen (extension; 3.0 ± 0.5 Nm·kg⁻¹, flexion; 1.7 ± 0.37 Nm·kg⁻¹). RFD was greater in linemen (extension; 1085.3±310.4 Nm·s⁻¹, flexion; 745.6±177.7 Nm·s⁻¹) than in backs (extension; 1022.5±236.9 Nm·s⁻¹, flexion; 662.7±184.9 Nm·s⁻¹). However, RFD/SMM was higher in backs (extension; 19.4±4.4 Nm·kg⁻¹·s⁻¹, flexion; 12.6±3.4 Nm·kg⁻¹·s⁻¹) than in linemen (extension; 18.2±6.3 Nm·kg⁻¹·s⁻¹, flexion; 12.4±3.5 Nm·kg⁻¹·s⁻¹). Linemen exhibited a greater absolute MVC and RFD, indicating the importance of maximal force generation for blocking tasks. Contrastingly, backs demonstrated higher normalized values, suggesting a reliance on efficient force production per unit of muscle mass for agility and rapid movements. These findings underscore the position-specific muscular demands of American football players.
Kei Sato, Noriyuki Kida
Open Access
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Conference Proceedings
Development of Basic Guidelines for Safe Lift Access for Disabled Skiers
There are many rules for safe skiing in resorts. However, there are still no global standard rules for lift embarkation and disembarkation. The reasons for this lie in the variety of lift configurations, and that these are often left to the rules of respective ski resorts. The Japan Association for Skiing Safety has established rules for getting on and off lifts. However, this rule has certain limitations. These guidelines were developed for skiers without disabilities. Therefore, there is an urgent need to develop guidelines for skiers with disabilities that can be applied in Japanese ski resorts. In order to create guidelines for skiers with disabilities to get on and off lifts. The disabled skiers in this study were limited to sitting skiers. The survey asked skiers with disabilities how easy or difficult it is to get on and off their lifts. In addition, lift embarkation and disembarkation movements were videotaped and analyzed using motion analysis software (myDartfish Pro S, Dartfish Japan Co., Ltd.). In order to ascertain the kind of assistance that resort operators offered to disabled skiers, I also interviewed with them. Consequently, the proximity of the lift chair to the snow surface was a factor that made getting on and off the lift difficult. Then, skiers have to place the outriggers on the snow surface at the right time and get out of the lifts with considerable momentum. The skier's body position at this time was a neck angle of 45 degrees and waist-to-neck angle of 60 to 70 degrees. The operator had no way of knowing the movements of sitting skiers and did not know how to support them. These guidelines would help formulate standards to help prevent accidents and injuries to the disabled.
Kazusa Oki
Open Access
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Conference Proceedings
A method to measure direction change ability at irregular times in juniors
The ability to change direction is important in everyday life for avoiding walking and sports. In actual sporting situations, the ability to change directions at irregular times is required. Previous studies have investigated this using analyses in three-dimensional space and force plate data, but it is preferable to measure it more easily. Furthermore, there is limited understanding of the ability to change direction at irregular times in the junior period. Therefore, the aim of this study was to develop a simple method of measuring the ability to change direction at irregular times in the junior period. The subjects were 44 junior high school students (11.43 ± 1.57 years old, 24 males and 20 females) who were asked to chase a target moving sideways along a 4 m straight line for 6 seconds without being caught. The target was played by two adult males, and the target characteristics were evaluated using approximate entropy (ApEn) to assess the number of turns, maximum speed, and unpredictability. Participants' pursuit accuracy was assessed using the mean and maximum differences, and response latency was assessed using the tau value at which the correlation coefficient was greatest in the cross-correlation analysis. First, to examine the reliability of the measurement method, the intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC1 and ICC1k) were calculated for the characteristics of the experimenter's movements, and significant reliability was confirmed for each variable. When the degree of pursuit was compared between the experimenters, no significant differences were found in the mean difference, maximum difference, or response delay for each variable. These results confirmed that the measurement method developed in this study was reliable, and that there was no effect due to difference between the experimenters. The simple method developed in this study for measuring the ability to change direction at irregular times is expected to be useful in sports and education.
Kyosuke Oku, Noriyuki Kida, Yoshihiro Kai, Hitoshi Koda, Megumi Gonno, Maki Tanaka, Tomoyuki Matsui, Yuya Watanabe, Toru Morihara
Open Access
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Early loss in ontogeny of the ability to protect the head and hands during a fall – nature did not fail, but coordinators and education
The title of this paper is the most general conclusion from our research and co-authorship of the phenomenon of susceptibility to the body injuries during the fall (SFI). When Ewaryst Jaskólski (1932-2007), one of the forerunners in Poland of promoting judo in the academic community, but the absolute leader of teaching safe fall to the blind, published together with Zbigniew Nowacki the theory of safe fall (1972), Artur was born, the first author of this scientific essay. At that time, his father, Roman, inspired by his own judo skills (and importantly - unaware of the existence of both the theory of safe fall and its authors) taught commandos safe falls during various motor simulations of military operations with high dynamics and the risk of bodily injury. Artur participated from early childhood as a spontaneous observer in judo military cadets trainings and out of his own curiosity or encouraged by adult judo practitioners, he undertook fun forms of combat with them that are difficult to define today, and at the age of eight he began professional judo training. This was the time of creation of the multi-generational, conventionally called Polish School of Safe, where the motor prototype was ukemi waza (falling techniques) from Japanese judo. This paradigm dominated for over half a century in research also outside Poland. Our original and co-authored research on the SFI phenomenon led us to breakthrough discoveries (after the death of the creators of the theory of safe fall). Up to the age of two, a healthy child protects its head and hands from hitting the ground, when during daily activity it repeatedly loses its vertical position. This ability is retained by only about 3% of the population starting from the age of 3 and the analogy applies to adults. The SFI phenomenon is the least documented in the final period of life. However, it is certain that even a person over 80 years of age can effectively reduce the errors of collision with the ground with distal parts of the body during a fall. Not only this empirical argument provides justification for necessary systemic solutions: provide a three-year-old child with stimuli that stimulate the lost ability to protect the head and hands during an unintentional fall backwards; teach the techniques of falling forward and sideways before starting school; develop these skills and methodological competences in schools of all types from the perspective of fulfilling the mission of a family coordinator; promote the cushioning of falls with the ‘cradle’ technique as a universal way of protecting the body regardless of the direction of the lost balance.
Roman Maciej Kalina, Artur Kalina
Open Access
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Conference Proceedings
The misuse of the term ‘therapy’ in science, education and in many areas of services may border on 'anti-therapy'
Such a radical formulation of the problem requires at least the most general premise. It seems that the dominant factor is the tendency of individuals and even very large social groups to succumb to, among other things, various fashions – ‘fashionable directions of research’, ‘fashion for specific fields of study’, ‘following the fashion of the era’, etc. The appearance of such and similar slogans on social media, in marketing and in common social communication is not surprising. Semantic liberalism in a similar style in the field of science and education leads to justified criticism. In principle, the social orientation of the connections between the practice of physiotherapy and psychotherapy is common, not only with the scope of impact on individual spheres of personality – in the first case, physical (more closely related to body structure and motor skills), in the second, with the mental layer. It is probably also common to associate psychology (with numerous sub disciplines and scientific specialties) as the direct scientific background of psychotherapy. It is no longer certain that most people know that although there is no scientific discipline of physiotherapy, there are scientific disciplines that provide the knowledge and skills necessary in this profession. Therefore, it should not be an exaggeration to emphasize that without confirmation of these competences by appropriate exams, it would be impossible to formally recognize the qualifications to practice as a physiotherapist. However, in the social space, there are many more word combinations with the word ‘therapy’ that can confuse even people who understand the listed subtleties of psychotherapy. These include: art therapy, hippotherapy, judo therapy, music therapy, etc. Of the listed terms, ‘judo’ seems to be the most recognizable, but as a combat sport, and such associations should be expected to be common. Meanwhile, ‘judo therapy’ is a synonym for sekkotsu – the traditional Japanese art of bone-setting (is a type of folk medicine in which practitioners are engaged in joint manipulation – traditionally, they practiced without any formal training in accepted modern medical procedures). Since this is the tradition, it is rather about treatment, not therapy. More pronounced paradoxes are associated with the term ‘music therapy’. Among the benefits of music therapy there is pain-reducing. However, there is clear evidence that many instrumental musicians after 35 years of practice require ongoing interventions by a physiotherapist or orthopaedist. In this paper, we provide empirical evidence for innovative music prevention in the context of violin teaching. Pain diagnosis and immediate pain-reducing interventions are conducted before, during, and after the lesson. In this way, we attempt to resolve the paradox of ‘eliminating pain through music therapy at the expense of the instrumentalist’s pain’.
Elizabeth Waszkiewicz, Artur Kruszewski
Open Access
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Conference Proceedings
Traumatic experiences of unintentional falls as a factor inspiring methodological modifications of intervention programs
The “Polish School of Safe Falling” is characterised by a certain paradox. The main creator of the tests, author and co-author of intervention programmes dedicated to various groups at increased risk of falling, but also of prevention programmes, experienced several traumatic events himself. In our opinion, knowledge of these events adds credibility to the recommendations contained in the concept of modern preventive medicine. This is, at the same time, the main cognitive and application goal of this work.We begin this study of several cases with an incident where this expert held a judo qualification at first dan level and several years of experience in teaching safe falls to special forces soldiers (according to his own programs taking into account the specifics of military combat in close contact with the enemy and the necessary, intensive exposure of one's own motor skills). This and the other incidents described are a good exemplification of the inevitability of injury due to a fall in certain circumstances of the external environment, regardless of professional preparation in the motor sense (the internal aspect concerning the subject of the action), when either the subject ignores the recommendations of prevention or lacks awareness and imagination that the external circumstances of his action only seemingly do not pose a risk of losing his balance. At the age of 24, during an individual training session (throwing a basketball combined with a jump shot), the floor collapsed under his left leg after landing. He reflexively performed a rear fall. However, a fall directly onto the upper back combined with a cushioning impact with the hands and a roll over the shoulder was impossible. The execution of this elementary safe fall technique was prevented by a “trapped” left leg in the broken floor. Under such external circumstances, overcoming the threat of a left leg injury proved only partially possible due to the professional competence of the collision with the ground due to loss of balance and falling. A sprain near the left ankle joint required immobilisation in a plaster cast for 10 days. The expert ignored medical advice and freed himself from the “plaster boot” after two days, but did not give up his daily walks and motor play with his two-year-old son. Left ankle joint degeneration is a consequence of these omissions and subsequent multiple injuries to this body part.The last incident involving this expert occurred 50 years later, equally paradoxically, as during AHFE 2024, Hawaii, where the achievements of the “Polish School of Safe Falling”, among others, were recommended. The fall in the bathroom, in a seemingly safe outdoor environment, confirms the validity of two universal conclusions: 1) the ability to safely fall under certain circumstances of loss of balance and inevitable collision with a vertical obstacle, although it can minimise negative health effects, the lack of such skills represents a very high risk of even losing one's life in similar situations; 2) the relevance of the most general of agonological rules, namely “the principle of a controlled surrounding” is well exemplified by the events described in this case study.
Patryk Wicher, Michal Kruszewski
Open Access
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Conference Proceedings
The potential hand to hand combat focus on attractiveness, health, education for peace, and personal security
The term ‘hand-to-hand combat’ is commonly used as a broad term encompassing the various forms of martial arts that have evolved over the centuries in different cultures. In general terms, martial arts derive from fundamental life skills, which can be divided into three main categories: healing arts, self-discovery arts and spiritual and meditative practices.One of the key elements of Greek thought was the pursuit of both physical and spiritual perfection. This idea was deeply rooted in education and culture, where harmony of body and mind was considered the foundation of the ideal citizen. The concept of physical activity inspired by the Greek cult of health of body and spirit became the foundation of the modern Olympic movement. In the context of contemporary forms of physical activity, hand-to-hand combat encompasses both combat sports, typical of Western culture, and martial arts, derived from Far Eastern traditions. The two categories often intermingle and contain common elements such as defensive techniques, physical training and psychological aspects. Hand-to-hand combat, as a form of physical activity, plays an important role in shaping a healthy lifestyle, influencing overall physical fitness as well as longevity and mental wellbeing.Hand-to-hand combat is an integral part of both traditional and modern physical activity systems. Its historical, cultural and health significance means that it remains an important area of interdisciplinary research, encompassing history, anthropology, sports medicine and the social sciences.Conclusion: Incorporating elements of hand-to-hand combat into medical and psychosocial interventions can provide a range of benefits, from improving mobility and reducing the risk of falls to strengthening mental resilience and reducing aggressive behaviour. A growing body of scientific evidence shows the positive impact of such interventions on physical and mental health, making them a promising tool in preventive medicine and health education. A response to these challenges has emerged from the newly established science – innovative agonology (INNOAGON), which aims to realise health prevention through the support and promotion of all activities leading to human psycho-physical well-being.
Artur Kruszewski, Michal Kruszewski
Open Access
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Conference Proceedings
Likelihood of injury from falls in different external and internal circumstances for young adults
external and internal factors. The aim of this study is to answer the question of whether modifying external circumstances (falls at the same level versus falls from a height with feet down) and internal circumstances under the same laboratory conditions, in the sense that the coordination difficulty of subsequent tasks increases, influences the variation in the probability of damage to individual body parts? Seventy-one students (male and female) were observed. A simulated fall backwards on soft ground involved adopting as quickly as possible to a horizontal stance from a vertical stance after a GO command. The first test fall was preceded by the subject performing a deep squat several times with their own hands resting on the hands of the tester (pre-test). All students successfully completed the pre-test. During the second test fall at the same level, 35 students were required to clap their hands and press the sponge with their chin against their torso, while 36 preceded the fall with a 360° clockwise and anticlockwise rotation. During the simulated fall, the motor modification involved clapping the hands and pressing the sponge with the chin against the torso. Results: During a simulated fall backwards from a height with the feet down, the likelihood of damage to the legs and hips increases dramatically compared with a fall at the same level (from 8-14% to 69%). The applied motor modifications during the second and third test falls favour a reduction in hand errors in relation to the first task (right from 73% to 68% and 57%; left from 70% to 63%). Conclusions: the relationship of error reduction effects to lateralisation is possible. Thus, it is advisable to evaluate the phenomenon with a distinction of the dominant hand in subsequent studies.
Artur Kalina, Artur Kruszewski, Bartłomiej Gąsienica Walczak
Open Access
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Conference Proceedings
Survival in the real and digital world – an example of innovative support for preventive medicine using INNOAGON methods
The cognitive goal of this article is to present knowledge about the yet unknown proportions of convergence and divergence between the subjective sense of one's own motor and mental competences to survive in various circumstances of the natural environment and social interactions with the results of applied motor, non-motor and mixed-motor simulations, among young women and men preparing for a profession related to the universal human values hypothesis. The study enrolled 32 students from the University of Rzeszów studying sports and military. No distinction has been made based on sex, as it was assumed that that awareness of threats and competence to survive are essential characteristics of every human being, regardless of sex. The level of perception and survival skills has been studied in two areas, i.e. in the real world (RW) and digital world (DW). Respondents correctly identify the main areas of survival competence in the real and digital worlds. There are large discrepancies between imagined and empirically verified survival skills, in both areas studied. There are empirically proven grounds for implementing and objectively assessing the competencies of survival in the real and digital world as specific components of somatic, mental and social health. It is necessary to objectively verify these competences with simple and easily accessible research tools.
Robert Bąk, Anna Wicher, Patryk Wicher
Open Access
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INNOAGON and physical education in modern education
In contemporary Polish education, there is a discernible crisis in physical education classes for the Alpha generation, with the number of children and young people being exempted from such classes increasing steadily. Teachers are attempting to enhance the appeal of school physical education by orienting these classes towards sports. While this has facilitated exposure to diverse forms of physical activity, it has concomitantly distorted the fundamental objectives of physical education. The pursuit of knowledge, the cultivation of skills, and the promotion of health-enhancing attitudes are pivotal aspects of the physical education curriculum. However, the emphasis on competitive sports has led to a narrow focus on specific skills and competitions, overshadowing the broader benefits of physical activity for health. The integration of modern technologies into the teaching process has further exacerbated this issue, contributing to the ongoing crisis in physical education in Poland. To address these challenges, it is recommended that INNOAGON (innovative agonology) be incorporated into the physical education curriculum as a tangible and effective measure. This approach aims to maintain the fundamental goals of physical education by promoting continuous development of students' bodies, minds, and spirits, underpinned by utilitarian human values that have been developed over centuries. The integration of scientific, preventive, and complementary medicine in the domains of combat sports, individual sports and team sports is a key aspect of INNOAGON, ensuring the reinforcement of the objectives of physical education. The successful realisation of the acquisition of motor skills by children and young people for their universally understood physical and mental health can be achieved through the implementation of INNOAGON in physical education within the context of modern education.
Paweł Adam Piepiora
Open Access
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Conference Proceedings
Recreational exercises as an element of preventive medicine in professional taekwondo training sportsman
Contact with nature can influence our thoughts, feelings and actions in a positive way, allowing us to function more effectively as a form of preventive medicine. People are often inspired by nature for example, in biomimetic inventions, nature and natural systems are used as a resource to create new products or solutions, studies have shown that different forms of contact with nature are beneficial to us in different ways. The aim was to knowledge about the impact of outdoor recreational activity on the stress level and mental toughness of taekwondo athletes and their performance in the competition phase. The methods used were the Survey questionnaire (Sport Mental Toughness Questionnaire, Depression, Anxiety Stress Scales) and Gas Discharge Visualization (GDV) Technique (Stress level) and the Vienna test. It was revealed that the assessment of the impact of ‘physical activity in nature’ before the competition is the basis for further research on a group of high-skilled athletes and the effect will be activities related to the optimal level and reduction of negative such as pre-competition, i.e. ‘pre-competition fever and apathy’, improvement of such parameters as the state of full concentration and stress reduction during the competition. Additionally, it was noted that in the process of diagnosing sports training, in the psychological aspect, factors should be sought as selected elements of preventive medicine that can contribute to changing the current psychosocial state so that the results achieved in sports competition in the future are as good as possible.
Artur Litwiniuk, Behnam Boobani, Juris Grants
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Virtual University of Preventive Medicine and Survival
It is enough to replace the word ‘virtual’ with ‘vision’ and the purpose of this essay is obvious. UPMSP would be the most appropriate place to train educators and researchers with competencies identified with the hypothesis about the primary criteria of universal human values: survival of humans and nature in a non-degenerate form and responsibility for coming generations. The hypothesis about the primary criteria of universal human value is free from the whispers of any religion, any ideology, any interest group (apart from the billions of human beings who desire such a world), from politics in the broadest sense. It is purely scientific. The more awe and doubt there is about AI in the social space, the closer we come to recognising preventive medicine in three complementary realms of reality: as a distinct discipline among medical sciences; as a subject of school education at all levels that will displace the counterproductive paradigm of physical education; as a profession offering the most desirable services in each of the ageing societies and those with the prospect of many years of retirement.
Roman Maciej Kalina
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