Minister for Public Health and Sport, Aileen Campbell MSP, today unveiled the latest innovation at the Golden Jubilee, a state of the art Motion Analysis Laboratory (MAL).

Following a tour of the Golden Jubilee National Hospital, the Minister became one of the first people to use the brand new research facility, and was taken through the MAL patient experience, having her movement pattern filmed and recorded.

Using advanced 3D technology with infrared digital cameras and force plates in the floor, the MAL generates detailed virtual mechanical models of a patient, offering dramatically improved measurement and analysis. This offers the opportunity to see exactly where load is impacting on patient's joints and the effect this is having on their functional ability.

Research and Development Manager for the Golden Jubilee, Dr Catherine Sinclair said: "This is a major shift in how we are able to assess our patients. It opens an amazing world of opportunity in orthopaedic research. It means we can more accurately diagnose issues in motion or 'gait' which are limiting patients' quality of life, and study the effects of tailoring rehabilitation and therapies to combat this.

"The first step in allowing us to do this is the launch of our ambitious Healthy Volunteers Study. This aims to build a comprehensive database of typical, 'healthy', walking and movement patterns from members of the public. This is a hugely important piece of work which will allow us to compare patients' progress after surgery to the database of healthy volunteers. The data from the MAL will allow us to compare the effectiveness of different implants and procedures, and find new ways to treat not only our patients, but individuals from across NHSScotland and beyond."

The Golden Jubilee has a proven track record in orthopaedic quality, research and innovation. It currently carries out over 25% of all hip and knee replacements in Scotland and specialises in complex joint surgery. The Golden Jubilee became the first hospital in Scotland to use computer aided surgery to improve accuracy and outcomes in patients, and pioneered the enhanced recovery after surgery programme, which gets patients up and mobile within hours of joint replacement.

Minister for Public Health and Sport, Aileen Campbell said: "This is an exciting project and I'm delighted to be the first 'healthy volunteer' to take part. I look forward to seeing what it will mean for orthopaedic research and the difference it could make to the quality of life of patients, both at the Golden Jubilee and further afield, experiencing a range of issues. The team here is renowned for its pioneering work in orthopaedics and it was a real pleasure to meet them and learn more about what they do."

Chief Executive of the Golden Jubilee, Jill Young, added: "With our dedication to lead quality, research and innovation on behalf of NHSScotland, we are very excited about the possibilities of the MAL and the Healthy Volunteers Study. This will give us tangible, measurable, improvements to the standard of care we are able to offer people from all across Scotland.

"While our main focus will be the improvement within orthopaedics, the benefits of this database and technology have the potential to be applied to a wide variety of areas, from performance improvements within sport and injury prevention, to spinal injuries, strokes, neuromuscular problems, prosthetic limbs and cerebral palsy."

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