Team GB triathlete Jonathan Brownlee recently helped demonstrate some of the medical technology that will be available to athletes in the Olympic Village at this summer’s Games.
World number-two Jonathan joined GE Healthcare staff near his training base at Leeds Metropolitan University to showcase the GE technology.
GE – a worldwide partner of the London 2012 Olympic Games – will supply a range of MRI, CT, X-Ray, diagnostic cardiology and ultrasound systems to the multimillion pound polyclinic, which will allow quick and thorough diagnosis of any musculoskeletal injuries sustained by athletes.
The equipment has already been used by the British Triathlon Federation (BTF) this season, of whom GE is the Elite Partner.
Brownlee said: “At Olympic level it’s all about the marginal gains that you can get over the competition. As an elite athlete it’s vital that you know exactly what is happening inside your body in order to tailor training schedules accordingly, which in turn will help maximise performance when it matters.
“This technological support will prove invaluable not only in 2012, but in future years as youngsters currently using the technology develop into medal prospects at Rio 2016 and beyond.”
Brownlee underwent medical evaluations on two pieces of GE healthcare technology. The first – a Body Composition Analysis Tool, Lunar iDXA (pictured above) – provides accurate and easy-to-read data and images to help physicians assess bone density, fracture risk, body composition, and pediatric development. Body composition data can help spur athlete engagement by tracking small but meaningful physical changes over time to illustrate how nutrition and fitness programmes impact body composition, and how these changes may affect quality of life, improve performance, prevent disease and manage overall health.
It was off the back of using this technology for the first time just over a year ago that Jonny was advised to up his vitamin D and calcium levels to improve bone density, which although good can always be better – especially if you’re an elite athlete.
“Athletes don’t like wasting time,” adds Jonny, “but with this you can see straight away if what you’ve been doing has had, and is having, an effect. And another great thing with this, is that the unit travels to us [the equipment is transported on a specially adapted bus to the various training centres around the UK] so it fits around our training time.”
The second, The LOGIQ-E (pictured on the home page) provides accurate, advanced imaging in a versatile compact ultrasound system for musculoskeletal, interventional, anesthesia, emergency, and critical care (pictured on home page).
“One of the best things about the GE one is that it’s portable,” enthuses Jonny. “So we’ve used them on training camps, which is particularly beneficial cause you can find yourself in strange places on camps – up a mountain, in Lanzarote on an island…
“The worst part of an injury is not knowing what it is. But you can get access to this information right away with this technology.”
As a worldwide partner of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, GE is providing healthcare equipment which will be used in the Polyclinic that will treat athletes in the Olympic Park. See more at www.ge.com/London2012
