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44 Doing Business in Connecticut | 2016 INDUSTRY SPOTLIGHT › Health & BioPharma H ealth care cost containment may sound a lot like running on a treadmill, but at Southern Connecticut State University (SCSU) in New Haven, Robert Gregory says his "super treadmill" could actually lower costs. "ere is this astounding statistic that 25 to 75 percent of individuals training for a marathon will be injured in any given 12-month period," said Gregory, who is an assistant professor of exercise science at SCSU, and runs the gait-analysis program at the school's Human Performance Labora- tory. "Fiy percent will be reinjured within another 12 months." e implications for health care costs are large — about $1.5 to $2 billion annually is linked to running-related injuries. e German-built treadmill at SCSU, one of about two dozen in North America, gets most of the attention, "but the heart of the gait analysis or motion-capture process is our camera system, that we use for capture of someone running on the treadmill," Gregory said. On the run During a gait analysis, about 20 reflec- tive markers are placed on the subject's legs to track motion of ankle, knee and hip joints. e gait-analysis process helps identify joint movement patterns that might pre- dispose an individual to injuries, and lets Gregory offer strengthening and flexibility exercises that can change an individual's run- ning mechanics. "Faulty joint mechanics at the ankle, knee and hip can lead to a whole host of running injuries," Gregory said. "At the same time, large forces acting on the body can also create a whole range of injuries." Gregory's typical "customers" at the Connecticut Running Injury Clinic are endurance athletes and runners. Regular users of his analyses include the Nutmeg Youth Triathlon Team. The Connecticut- based team, which involves children from ages 7 to 18 in endurance events, is using the gait-analysis testing on its athletes and is also screening them in a process called VO2 Max, or maximal oxygen up- take testing. Gregory occasionally sees collegiate runners and athletes from throughout New England and a host of weekend warriors, competitive and recreational athletes in the 45- to 60-year-old age range. ey are College Lab Helps Runners Avoid Injury Super treadmill at Southern Connecticut State takes one small step toward health care cost containment By Steve Lubetkin ' Faulty joint mechanics at the ankle, knee and hip can lead to a whole host of running injuries. ' — RObeRt GReGORy, assistant pROfessOR Of exeRCise sCienCe, sCsU PHOTO/SCSU Robert Gregory, assistant professor of exercise at Southern Connecticut State University.