Wolf Orthopaedic Biomechanics Lab (WOBL)

The Wolf Orthopaedic Biomechanics Laboratory (WOBL) is a state-of-the-art biomechanical research facility located within the Fowler Kennedy Sport Medicine Clinic on the campus of the Western University. Opened in 2002, the WOBL was made possible through the generosity of the Bernard and Norton Wolf Foundation in conjunction with grants from the Canada Foundation for Innovation New Opportunities Program and Fowler Kennedy Sport Medicine Clinic fundraising. The WOBL has a clinical focus combining laboratory-based measures of joint function with clinical assessments of patient status. Its infrastructure boasts two passive reflective marker-based motion analysis systems with telemetered EMG, two c-arm portable fluoroscopes, an isokinetic dynamometer, portable instrumented, a plantar pressure system, and a web-based data capture and management system.

The WOBL has three co-directors who work with the team of clinicians and researchers at the Fowler Kennedy Sport Medicine Clinic and represent the Faculties of Health Sciences, Medicine & Dentistry and Engineering at UWO. Trevor Birmingham PhD PT, Robert Giffin MD FRCS(C), and Tom Jenkyn PhD PEng, provide an interdisciplinary approach to musculoskeletal health research and incorporate expertise from their research and clinical experience in mechanical engineering, movement sciences, orthopaedic surgery and physiotherapy. Ian Jones BMath, MA (Biomechanics) is the lab manager and research associate.