WELCOME TO EXTRAORDINARY!

The combination of faculty, facilities, equipment, and esprit de corps make the Department of Physical Therapy’s Human Biomechanics & Physiology Laboratory (HBAPL) the finest facility of its type in the world!

Esteemed Faculty

The faculty that work within this facility are from multiple disciplines including physical therapy, biomechanics, physiology, exercise science, and athletic training, to name a few. They are gathered together under one umbrella called the Institute for Human Health and Sports Science. As a team, they are all committed to the highest quality teaching, to research that prevents injury, and to clinical care that restores movement and function and helps active people reach new heights! Caring, collaborative, and dedicated, the faculty of the Lab and Institute invite you to learn a little more about each of us by clicking on the “Researchers” tab below.

World Class Facilities

The HBAPL consists of 13,500 square feet of awe-inspiring research, teaching, and clinical space. Although the area is specifically designed to foster interdisciplinary collaboration, a presentation of the space is simplified when thinking about components of the lab. The centerpiece of the lab is our biomechanics area. This biomechanics area consists of a large, open space surrounded by 24 motion capture cameras and featuring 3 force plates and an instrumented treadmill. In addition, the biomechanics area boasts truly unique functional motion capture areas with a golf simulator, turf field, and wooden court surface.

As great as the biomechanics area is, the physiology component of the lab is equally impressive. The physiology space is highlighted by the environmental chamber which allows researchers to reproduce extreme conditions in temperature (above 100  degrees F and below freezing), humidity (up to 95%), and elevation (up to 14,000 ft above sea level). Physiology also has a wet lab, some of the most unique treadmills in the world, metabolic carts, a wireless EMG for tracking muscle activity, and a DEXA scanner, the most accurate way to perform body fat analysis.

Last but never least, the clinical component provides clients of Targeted Enhanced Athletic Movement (TEAM) and H2S2 research subjects with access to private and semi-private treatment areas and a strength and conditioning area that concentrates on fun and unique ways to prevent injury, improve performance, or rehabilitate from injury.

Cutting Edge Technology

The term “state-of-the-art” does not quite do our equipment justice. here is a brief list of some of the equipment available to faculty, students, and collaborators of H2S2:

• Student learning hub with over a dozen integrated computer workstations and study tables for collaborative, experiential learning
• Custom built Darwin environmental chamber Colorado Altitude modifications
• Motion Analysis Corporation’s 24-camera, 3D motion capture system
• Novel Pedar-X insole pressure measurement system
• 3 AMTI floor-mounted Force Plates
• AMTI force-plate instrumented tandem belt treadmill
• Humac NORM Isokinetic Dynamometer
• High Definition Golf Simulator with video and forceplate analysis
• Hologic Discovery W DEXA Scanner
• Viasys VMax Encore Metabolic Cart and Pulmonary Function Testing System with Canopy, Pulse Oximeter, ECG, and Cycle Ergometer
• Viasys Oxycon Mobile Metabolic Cart
• High-resolution ECG Holter monitoring system
• Artenis Wireless Near-Infrared Spectroscopy System with 4 probes
• BTS Bioengineering 16-channel wireless EMG system with 4 electrogoniometers, 4 accelerometers, 2 foot switches, analog-to-digital conversion board, wireless charging station, and dynamometer interface
• 3 Woodway treadmills including 1 ELG, 1 Curve, and one Modified Desmo for the the environmental chamber
• Alter-G P200 gravity-altering treadmill with Woodway Desmo base
• Keiser pneumatic resistance Power Rack and Runner
• TRX body weight training system