Congrats to Dr. Sandy Shultz and Dr. Randy Schmitz on their new patent, which was issued April 2025. Shultz and Schmitz have designed a Knee Joint Laxity Testing Apparatus with hopes of providing clinicians with a screening tool to identify and reduce the risk of ACL injuries, particularly among women athletes.
November 18th, 2025
UNCG RESEARCH MAGAZINE
“Most women and adolescent girls have greater laxity, or looseness, of the ligaments that stabilize the knee – a common risk factor for ACL injury,” Shultz says. They realized that identifying females with increased laxity could be a predictor for ACL vulnerability and decided to design a mechanism for quantifying the condition. The device measures the laxity of knee joint ligaments to screen for those who have a greater-than-average risk of injury, diagnose an injury, and monitor the healing of the ligament post-surgery. https://www.uncg.edu/news/professor-gives-female-athletes-a-leg-up-with-patented-device/