By Isabella Schultz
NKyTribune staff writer
Rising Thomas More University senior and biology and exercise science major, Megan Childs, is changing the way joint injury prevention is approached.
Childs began a study on treadmill running and injury prevention back in April of 2025, with the help of Thomas More University health sciences professor, Dr. Micah Garcia. From there, she took her research even further and landed on the title of “The Intercession and Intrasession Reliability of OpenCap Software for Treadmill Running” for her study.
“Running is the most popular form of exercise,” said Childs. “Running injuries are very common, so the reason we are doing it with this software is so you can see the running interventions to prevent injuries.”
What is OpenCap software, and why does Childs speak so highly of it?
OpenCap software is a markerless motion-capture system that looks at measuring kinematic motion during walking, squatting, and other types of motion. Through that markerless motion-capture system, AI algorithms are used to track movement rather than using invasive bone pins.
“There are so many pros to working with the OpenCap software,” said Childs. “Anyone could use it, as someone only needs two separate phones to record and analyze data, as OpenCap is a downloadable application.”
After her research was completed, she found that the OpenCap software has a moderate to excellent identification for all peak joint angles during running. This means that the software
can accurately identify injuries within joints.
In October of 2025, Childs took her presentation to Grand Rapids, Mich., to give an oral
presentation about her final research at the Great Midwest American College of Sports Medicine
Conference. She joined over 300 other selected college students and professors from the Midwest region to present her findings to. Then, in April of 2026, Thomas More University hosted a research forum where Childs presented her research, as she did in Michigan, to many professors and other students, and explained how she would expand on her research in the future.
“I do not know entirely what more I will do with treadmills, but I want to continue my research
on runners of all ages and continue using OpenCap,” said Childs.
In addition, Childs is starting to research the forced symmetry among female athletes with and
without injuries using the Thomas More University women’s soccer team.
She hopes that this research will later influence their training and change the way athletes
and coaches approach it.
Thus, Childs hopes to influence other students at Thomas More University and other researchers to look at her study and to expand on it themselves.