Research Interests:
Sports Injuries, Muscle injuries, Bone healing, Fracture repair
As a sports physician-scientist expert in biophotonics, Dr. Shadgan is actively involved in designing and developing novel wearable biosensors and their applications in sports medicine and exercise monitoring. Dr. Shadgan is a pioneer researcher in applying photonics techniques to evaluate and monitor skeletal muscle metabolism and function during exercise and when affected by injuries. Using modifications of wireless and wearable NIRS and EMG systems, Dr. Shadgan explores the quality of muscle contraction and recovery in high-performance athletes as well as in people with neuromuscular and muscle fatigue conditions. He is also developing applications of infrared Imaging techniques for non-invasive and non-contact evaluation of skeletal muscle injuries.
Olympic experiences have shaped Dr. Shadgan’s research career since 2002. During the 2004 Athens Olympic Games, one of his patients, a gold medalist wrestler, had to drop out of Olympic competitions because of progressive leg pain caused by a condition called chronic exertional compartment syndrome (CECS). In contrast to the majority of medical conditions, which are challenging to manage, treatment of this syndrome is straightforward when an early diagnosis is made. The standard diagnosis is based on clinical assessment confirmed by measurement of the leg’s intra-compartmental pressures, an invasive technique that requires inserting multiple needles into the leg compartments and recording intra-compartmental pressure changes while the subject runs on a treadmill. Difficult and subjective, this method often has limited diagnostic values. Many people, especially elite athletes, refuse this kind of investigation simply because of its invasive nature. That Olympics experience inspired Dr. Shadgan to investigate an alternative, non-invasive, and sensitive technique for the early and accurate diagnosis of CECS. He came to UBC with a clinical proposal to use NIRS for this purpose. This technology is under clinical investigation at the Vancouver General Hospital.
During the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, Dr. Shadgan and his colleagues examined and reported the feasibility and function of the first wireless NIRS sensor to monitor skeletal muscle oxygenation and hemodynamics in a group of Judo and Wrestling Olympians. Non-invasive wireless real-time monitoring of limb muscle metabolism and function during exercise or certain dynamic activities provides essential information to help athletes optimize their exercise protocols and improve their muscle function.
Dr. Shadgan’s second area of interest in sports medicine is injury prevention and injury surveillance studies. His studies are focused on a better understanding of the characteristics, risk factors and mechanisms of injuries in athletes from the recreational to elite level and high-risk individuals, including people with disabilities. As the chairman of the International Olympic Wrestling Federation Medical Commission, Dr. Shadgan has been serving the Olympic Games as a Medical Officer and Medical Director of Wrestling competitions since the 2004 Athens Olympic Games. He conducted several research projects on injury surveillance during the 2004 Athens, 2008 Beijing, 2012 London, 2016 Rio and 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games.
