The Motion Analysis Laboratory (MAL) at Shriners Hospitals for Children - Erie is a state-of-the-art biomechanics facility used to better understand how children, particularly those with multiple orthopaedic problems, use muscles and joints to move. The functional movement analysis conducted by the MAL's specially trained staff is a full-body assessment, providing information on muscle activity, joint movement, and forces affecting the patient during various activities such as walking, running, jumping, etc. The MAL staff then work with the child's physician to assess problem areas and decide on the most appropriate treatment options.

In essence, the MAL exists to help clinicians better understand movement strategies used by our patients. This is achieved by using engineering mechanics, physics, anatomy, and physiology to calculate forces inside the joints that cause movement. We compare all of the patient data, including information gained from a physical examination, to data collected from children without deviation. This comparison enables us to predict changes that are likely to occur with and without interventions such as surgery, medication, bracing, therapy, or simply the passage of time. This work addresses the first of three points in the Shriners Hospitals for Children (SHC) Mission Statement: the delivery of excellent clinical care.

We also have a very strong hypothesis-driven research program, guided by unanswered questions in our clinical work. Our primary research goal is to bring new, often abstract, technical developments to clinical practice. This is why we are creating a new "six degree-of-freedom" database. It will be the best foundation for something we call �predictive dynamics,� where muscles and bones are mathematically modeled, allowing us to one day "perform surgery" on these computer models, and to accurately predict outcomes. By conducting this research, and publishing our results, we address the remaining two points of the SHC Mission Statement: research and education.