NBA, NBPA, & NGBPU Collaborate with GE HealthCare and MedStar Health on Musculoskeletal and Joint Health Study

• Prospective pilot research study is first of its kind to attempt to quantify the impact of playing, training, and rest over a professional basketball season on musculoskeletal health with a cohort of elite professional basketball players from multiple teams.

• Study collected measurements from a dedicated cohort of G League players who volunteered to participate for the duration of the 2023-24 season, utilizing wearable technologies to correlate cumulative training and game loads with advanced imaging (MRI and Ultrasound) and biomechanical and kinematic assessments.

• Research findings are expected to improve understanding of cumulative loads experienced throughout a basketball season, with focus on structural and functional changes in the knee joint and laying the groundwork for future research.

CHICAGO­­ and WASHINGTON, D.C. — National Basketball Association (NBA), the National Basketball Players Association (NBPA), and the Next Gen Basketball Players Union (NBGPU) in collaboration with GE HealthCare and MedStar Health today announced the completion of the data collection phase of a longitudinal pilot study of NBA G League players.  The research study was designed to collect data that could help promote player health and wellness and reduce injuries. 

The largest assessment of training and game load on athletic performance across a full professional basketball season, the study monitored musculoskeletal and joint health of NBA G League players from four teams over the course of the 2023-24 campaign.  The forthcoming study results aim to improve understandings of and help inform future best practices for playing, training, and recovery with focus on the structure and function of the knee joint – notably the patellar tendon.

The study performed prospective, longitudinal assessments on athletes by combining daily use of wearable technologies to provide consistent measures of game and training loads with serial biomechanical, kinematic, and force-producing assessments. Advanced imaging techniques used in the study included ultrasound shear wave elastography, MRI equipped with deep learning reconstruction, and image-based muscle analysis by Springbok Analytics.  These assessments began during G League training camp in early November and concluded at the end of the G League season in March. 

Ultrasound shear wave elastography is an advanced, quantitative method for analyzing functional changes in the patellar tendon, and when used to measure the stiffness of tissue in the patellar tendon, the method has the potential to identify risk factors or indicators of tendinopathy onset. To date, this will be the first time the method is used in a research study on elite professional basketball players.

Executive Quotes

Erin Angel, PhD, VP, Research & Scientific Affairs, GE Healthcare

“GE HealthCare is excited to team up with the NBA and the participating G League players on this pioneering study to improve how the musculoskeletal health of players is analyzed and measured with the hope to find innovations in how athletes can address their musculoskeletal and joint health concerns.  As a leader and innovator in medical technology, we view this imaging study as important for learning more about the human body and how it reacts to physical activity, with the possibility of extending learnings to care for pro athletes, amateur athletes, and the non-sports world beyond.”

Wiemi Douoguih, MD, Medical Director, MedStar Sports Medicine; Chair NBA Research Committee; Study Co-Principal Investigator

“For professional athletes, injuries can take a huge toll on their career success, so it has long been one of the goals of the NBA’s Research Committee to promote player health and wellness in the interest of reducing injuries and lengthening careers.  This research lays the foundation to help us better understand the balance between playing, training, and rest so that players can remain as healthy as possible, coaches and teams can have their best season, and fans can see their favorite stars play the game.”

Scott Magargee, CEO and Co-Founder, Springbok Analytics

“We are pleased to continue our ongoing collaboration with the NBA for this study. NBA, the NBPA and GE HealthCare are at the forefront of better understanding athlete health and performance, and we are proud that our muscle analytics technology - improving personalized training, injury knowledge, and return to play decision-making - is playing an important role.”

Asheesh Bedi, MD, Chief Medical Officer, National Basketball Players Association; Study Co-Principal Investigator

"We are excited to announce this first-of-its-kind study on workload. This has been an area of great interest, and there has yet to be a comprehensive data set on professional athletes to assess the impact of workload on musculoskeletal and joint health. This study is invaluable in bringing together medical professionals and key opinion leaders in the scientific community to advance the health and wellness of our athletes. Members of the Next Gen Basketball Players Union have powered this study throughout the 2023-2024 season, and their commitment underscores their passion for the long-term well-being of athletes at all levels."

Study Methodology and Technology Used

This study features GE HealthCare’s SIGNA™ Premier 3.0T wide-bore MRI scanner enabled with AIR^TM Recon DL AI software for fast high-resolution imaging, and specialized ultrashort-TE T2 star research sequences to identify structural and compositional changes in the knee joint.

GE HealthCare’s LOGIQ^TM E10s Ultrasound with ML4-20-D transducer was used to perform serial Ultrasound elastography diagnostics on the knee (patellar tendon) of participating players. The ML4-20-D probe uses XDclear^TM transducer technology—an innovative combination of advanced materials and acoustic design— that provides high quality images to support musculoskeletal assessment. The LOGIQ E10 Series, equipped with advanced tools including 2D Shear Wave Elastography, enables qualitative and quantitative assessment of tissue elasticity.  

Springbok Analytics’ AI-based 3D muscle analysis was used to better understand players’ muscle health. Springbok’s technology uses MR image data to create a 3D model of individual muscles, revealing a more complete view of musculoskeletal health, precisely quantifying metrics including muscle volume, muscle asymmetry, fat infiltration, edema, as well as tendon and bone morphology.

The work is the latest in MedStar Health’s portfolio of orthopedic and sports medicine-related research projects, which include studies with other professional leagues and federations on topics ranging from injury prevention, innovative surgical techniques and the application of novel 3D printing technology. 

About GE HealthCare Technologies Inc.

GE HealthCare is a leading global medical technology, pharmaceutical diagnostics, and digital solutions innovator, dedicated to providing integrated solutions, services, and data analytics to make hospitals more efficient, clinicians more effective, therapies more precise, and patients healthier and happier. Serving patients and providers for more than 125 years, GE HealthCare is advancing personalized, connected, and compassionate care, while simplifying the patient’s journey across the care pathway. Together our Imaging, Ultrasound, Patient Care Solutions, and Pharmaceutical Diagnostics businesses help improve patient care from diagnosis, to therapy, to monitoring. We are a $19.6 billion business with approximately 51,000 colleagues working to create a world where healthcare has no limits.

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About MedStar Health

At MedStar Health, we use the best of our minds and the best of our hearts to serve our patients, those who care for them, and our communities. Our 30,000 associates and 4,700 affiliated physicians are committed to living this promise through our core SPIRIT values—Service, Patient first, Integrity, Respect, Innovation, and Teamwork—across our more than 300 locations including 10 hospitals, ambulatory, and urgent care centers. As the medical education and clinical partner of Georgetown University, MedStar Health is training future physician leaders to care for the whole person and is advancing care through the MedStar Health Research Institute. From our telemedicine and urgent care services to the region's largest home health agency, we're committed to providing high-quality health care that's also easy and convenient for our patients. At MedStar Health—It's how we treat people.

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