We filmed with Wolves FC back in the summer to see how they used Ultrasound to treat knee and joint injuries with their first team players. As sport has become increasingly high-tech, scientific approaches to injury management have become more commonplace, we looked at the role of ultrasound in a Premier League club. Wolves FC has state of the art medical facilities. and had no serious injuries last year – so we were thinking they must be doing something right! We asked Steve Kemp, the head of medical services at Wolves to let us come and see how they used their Ultrasound machine to monitor players injuries and were delighted when he agreed!
The Sir Jack Hayward Training Ground feels like a school as you walk past the autograph hunters through to reception, but its a school where all the students are unbelievably healthy looking. We were met by Phil Hayward, the academy physio who showed us the Ultrasound machine in action on a young player who had come in with some pain in his knee. Using Ultrasound means you can see the joint in action, and see whether there are any muscle tears, or tendon issues. Football is a multi-million pound sport, and being able to spot and treat problems early can mean you can change a players training programme to stop the problem in its tracks.
Ultrasound is a simple idea, you send sound waves into a body and depending on what material the wave passes through the reflection comes back at a different speed – and can be drawn as a picture. It is one of many imaging systems that rely on physicists to make work. These films are to be shown to teenagers, and here we wanted to show the importance of physics to society. There are plenty of jobs for medical physicists, and even if you want to be a physiotherapist a good grounding in physics will stand you in good stead, as medicine becomes more high-tech.
Filmed with the physio department at Wolves FC, this film has animation created in-house explaining the complex physics behind ultrasound works.
Thanks to Steve and Phil for their time and enthusiasm for our project, and thank to Wolves FC for the additional footage of training sessions!
Shot on Canon 7D and Canon 550D with Sigma 30mm, Tokina 11-16mm lenses.
Produced for the Institute of Physics.