Thermal image processing system to monitor muscle warm-up in students prior to their sports activities

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: Muscle warm-up plays a fundamental role before developing any physical activity because it allows the body to prepare to perform better in physical activity, being a process that is carried out through a series of moderate intensity exercises that result in an increase gradual reduction of muscle and body temperature, avoiding possible injuries or muscle pain. Therefore, muscle warm-up is an essential activity mainly in those sports where greater force is exerted on the legs, being the part of the body where injuries such as ankle sprains or knee injuries are commonly seen that lead to painful and uncomfortable injuries for students-athletes. OBJECTIVES: Develop a thermal image processing system to monitor the muscle warm-up of students prior to their sports activities to evaluate the state of the muscle warm-up of the leg part and prevent damage or injuries, as well as the indication of requiring another additional muscle warm-up to determine a correct muscle warm-up. METHODS: The proposed method involves the use of thermal images to monitor muscle warm-up before and after physical activity. In addition, the use of MATLAB software to analyze the images and compare the status of muscle warm-up. RESULTS: Through the development of this proposed system, its operation was appreciated with an efficiency of 95.97% in monitoring the muscle warm-up of the students prior to their physical activities achieved through image processing. CONCLUSION: It is concluded that the proposed system is effective in monitoring muscle warm-up and preventing injuries in student-athletes. © 2024 Medina-Altamirano et al.