Chiropractic is here because it was driven by the athletes. And with Dr. Farrell, it was driven very hard by the athletes. Normally, there wouldn’t have been four chiropractors going. So this was really a pilot study, and we’re still sitting back and assessing how that worked out. But that may be part of the future for chiropractic.

Is there anything else that you want to mention, to readers who are chiropractors, chiropractic students, or interested others? Anything that I haven’t touched upon that you think would be worthwhile for them to know about this whole adventure.

Yes, a couple of things. There’s a large portion of my job here which is now coming to fruition. One of the reasons I was brought in was to create a new sports medicine model for the USOC. We’re pretty close to having that model completed and releasing it in a couple of weeks [October 2008]. That new model is going to affect chiropractic selection. So it will be best, if chiropractors want to be involved with this, if they keep an eye on the USOC website, which is www.usolympicteam.com.

Also, in April 2009, I will be speaking at the American Chiropractic Board of Sports Physicians Conference in San Diego, along with the other USOC medical director, directly speaking to chiropractors about what the new medical model is and what role chiropractic will play.

I realize you have not yet released the model, so this is not the time to speak in detail about it. But is this something that will be applicable more broadly, beyond the Olympics?

Very much so.

One thing more. You mentioned the relationship with GE Healthcare with regard to the utilization of diagnostic ultrasound. What’s your sense of its value? Are you, or others, going to be publishing research on this as a result of your work at the Olympics and at the Olympic Training Center?

Yes. On the research, we have several programs going on. Prior to leaving for the Games, we had a decent number of athletes where we did a baseline analysis on the joints that are most commonly injured in their sports. And if there was an injury at the Games, then we were able to follow up with that. There was one specific case of a shoulder injury, where we had a baseline going in, and we could see a torn supraspinatus from an ultrasound in Beijing that wasn’t torn in the baseline. So we were able to measure that and determine the treatment plan.

So it’s a quick, on-the-spot, relatively noninvasive method of evaluation.

Yes. It shows us a lot. I can’t tell you how excited I am about this. It was one of the reasons I wanted to come here. We started the program in 2005, and GE gave us all brand new units in May. The technology is just amazing. I have several papers in the hopper right now for what we’re planning on doing with it. It could be a real boon to chiropractic from the standpoint of assessing injuries, for determining the extent of an injury. When we were training our athletic trainers on the unit, the radiologist was here and we were gapping an ulnar collateral joint, and the radiologist was saying, “No, you need about 20 more pounds of pressure to gap that joint.” As you realize from working at a chiropractic college, there are people who are not putting enough effort into gapping the joint because they’re afraid of injuring the patient. Now, with the help of the diagnostic ultrasound, you can have real feedback. You can put an ultrasound unit on a knee, or on an elbow, and know that this is the amount of force that it takes to gap this joint so that you have an accurate diagnosis. The feedback from an educational standpoint and from a diagnostic standpoint, is incredible.

For current information about the United States Olympic Committee, visit www.usolympicteam.com.

Daniel Redwood, DC, the interviewer, is Editor-in-Chief of Health Insights Today.