Isokinetic strength assessment
West Clinical Research is a dedicated, private clinical research site with locations in Morehead City and Greenville, North Carolina. Our on-site Biodex System 4 Pro isokinetic dynamometer, operated by staff physical therapists and athletic trainers, is ready for sarcopenia, muscle loss, obesity and weight-loss, sports medicine and orthopedic trials with strength endpoints. We run the complete sarcopenia endpoint battery in-house: handgrip strength, the Short Physical Performance Battery, the five-times chair stand test, 4-meter gait speed, and isometric and isokinetic knee extension on the Biodex, with Hologic DXA body composition on site.
Central IRB. Rapid study startup. A dedicated in-house recruitment team.
Capability snapshot
01Study types
Isokinetic dynamometry gives a sponsor an objective, reproducible strength endpoint. We already have the equipment, the clinicians and the procedures in place, so a protocol with muscle-strength or functional outcomes can run entirely on site.
The full sarcopenia endpoint battery, run in-house: handgrip dynamometry, the Short Physical Performance Battery, five-times chair stand, 4-meter gait speed, and isometric and isokinetic knee extension on the Biodex, with DXA body composition on site. We screen to SDOC or EWGSOP2 criteria and use the same operators at every visit.
Strength and lean-mass preservation assessments for weight-management and metabolic studies, with obesity medicine investigators on staff.
Baseline and follow-up strength testing for any protocol that needs a reproducible, quantitative measure of muscle function rather than a self-reported scale.
Return-to-play, post-injury and post-surgical recovery protocols run by sports medicine physicians, orthopedic surgeons, physical therapists and athletic trainers.
Training-response and performance studies where isokinetic dynamometry is the primary or secondary strength outcome.
If your protocol calls for isokinetic dynamometry, whether in orthopedics, osteoarthritis, neuromuscular disease, cachexia or musculoskeletal recovery, we can run it to the protocol’s testing procedure.
02Sarcopenia endpoints
Sarcopenia protocols build their primary and key secondary endpoints from a short list of validated performance and strength tests, and reserve dynamometer-based knee extension endpoints for the sites that have the equipment. We run every one of them in-house with the same trained clinicians at every visit, and we have experience delivering them for sponsors.
Increasingly used as the primary endpoint in sarcopenia trials, and a common eligibility and stratification variable. The participant rises from a standard-height chair five times as fast as possible with arms folded, and we time it to a tenth of a second using scripted instructions and a demonstration. It is an objective proxy for lower-limb strength and power in the quadriceps, gluteals and hamstrings, the muscle groups sarcopenia affects most.
Three components, each scored 0 to 4 for a total of 0 to 12: balance stands (side-by-side, semi-tandem and tandem), usual-pace 4-meter gait speed, and the five-times chair stand. Protocols commonly set an SPPB eligibility window and use change in total score as a key secondary endpoint. We score each component to the protocol’s assessment manual and derive the total on site.
Maximal voluntary isometric grip measured with a calibrated JAMAR-type hydraulic handheld dynamometer, the instrument sarcopenia consortia specify. It confirms sarcopenia at screening (SDOC: below 35.5 kg for men and 20 kg for women; EWGSOP2: below 27 kg and 16 kg) and is commonly a key secondary endpoint in kilograms, so positioning, trial count, rest intervals and device calibration are controlled at every visit.
Usual-pace walking speed over a measured 4-meter course, reported in meters per second. It is the slowness criterion in the SDOC definition (below 0.8 m/s), a standalone mobility endpoint, and one third of the SPPB.
Maximal isometric knee extension at the protocol-specified joint angle, reporting peak torque (Nm), time to peak torque (s) and rate of torque development (Nm/s) from the torque-time curve. Rate of torque development captures explosive strength, which declines earlier with age than peak torque and tracks closely with chair-rise ability and fall risk. Only sites with dynamometer capability can deliver it.
Knee extension at 60°/s and 180°/s through the protocol’s range of motion, reporting peak torque (Nm) and average and peak power (W) at each speed. The same operators, seat and dynamometer settings, and warm-up are reproduced at every visit so change from baseline reflects the participant, not the setup.
Our Hologic DXA system provides whole-body composition, including appendicular lean mass for the appendicular skeletal muscle index (ASMI) used in sarcopenia definitions, and bone mineral density. In-house imaging means baseline and follow-up scans are scheduled inside protocol windows without an outside imaging referral.
Protocols typically repeat this battery at screening, baseline and each efficacy visit, and eligibility often has to hold at both screening and baseline. We treat those two visits as a reproducibility check on our own procedures as much as on the participant.
03The equipment
The current-generation Biodex multi-joint isokinetic dynamometer quantifies muscle strength, power, work and endurance at controlled speeds and positions, so a change in a participant’s strength is measured rather than estimated.
Every test follows the protocol’s specified joint, mode, speeds, repetitions and warm-up, and the same trained operators run the assessment at each visit to keep variability down.
04The team
A dynamometer is only as good as the people running it. Our strength assessments are performed and interpreted by clinicians who use this equipment in practice, and our investigators are the specialists sponsors expect on a musculoskeletal or metabolic protocol.
Set up, position and test participants on the Biodex using standardized, protocol-specific procedures so strength data stays consistent from visit to visit.
Support testing, warm-up and familiarization, and the sports medicine and rehabilitation protocols the site runs.
Investigators for orthopedic, post-surgical and musculoskeletal studies where strength recovery is an endpoint.
Investigators for sports medicine, rehabilitation, return-to-play and performance protocols.
Investigators for weight-management and metabolic protocols, where strength and lean-mass preservation increasingly matter as endpoints.
Data quality
In a sarcopenia trial, site-level measurement variability comes straight out of statistical power. Every part of our strength testing is set up to keep it low.
Our staff physical therapists and athletic trainers run the battery at screening, baseline and each follow-up. Operator-to-operator variability is designed out.
We follow the protocol’s assessment manual as written: scripted instructions, a demonstration before testing, fixed test order, set rest intervals and trial counts.
The Biodex is calibrated on schedule and our handheld dynamometers are calibrated and logged. Calibration records travel with the regulatory binder.
Performance testing is scheduled before dosing, imaging and any invasive procedure, so fatigue and discomfort never contaminate a strength measure.
Chair stand and gait times are captured to a tenth of a second, Biodex torque outputs are exported as source, and implausible values are queried on the day rather than at monitoring.
Our dedicated recruitment team prescreens participants before a screening visit is booked.
05The site
The Biodex is one piece of a site built for industry-sponsored trials. Research is our business, and the operations around the equipment are set up to start fast and enroll predictably.
We use central IRBs, so there is no local IRB queue between contract execution and first patient in. Feasibility, budget and regulatory run in parallel.
Recruitment is a full-time function, not a side task for coordinators. Our team prescreens, schedules and follows up so enrollment is a plan, not a hope.
Our team, equipment and clinic are dedicated to running clinical trials with our expert investigators. Our clinical research coordinators work only in research.
Our investigators are experts in their fields: practicing physicians in orthopedic surgery, sports medicine, psychiatry, obesity medicine, internal medicine, and family and emergency medicine.
Regulatory documents, investigator CVs and equipment calibration records are available on request.
06Questions
Yes. West Clinical Research has an in-house Biodex System 4 Pro isokinetic dynamometer at our research facility in Morehead City, North Carolina. Testing is performed on site by our trained physical therapists and athletic trainers.
We are set up for sarcopenia and muscle-loss studies, strength and lean-mass assessments in obesity and weight-loss trials, general strength assessments, sports medicine and rehabilitation protocols, strength-training and performance studies, and any protocol that specifies isokinetic, isometric or isotonic dynamometry.
Trained physical therapists and athletic trainers on staff perform Biodex testing using standardized, protocol-specific procedures. Our investigators are experts in their fields: practicing physicians in orthopedic surgery, sports medicine, psychiatry, obesity medicine, internal medicine, and family and emergency medicine.
Yes. Our Biodex System 4 Pro performs isometric knee extension (peak torque, time to peak torque and rate of torque development) and isokinetic knee extension at 60 and 180 degrees per second (peak torque, average and peak power). Sarcopenia protocols typically restrict these endpoints to sites with dynamometer capability. We run them in-house with staff physical therapists and athletic trainers, and we have experience delivering them for sponsors.
Yes. We run the complete sarcopenia battery: handgrip strength with a calibrated hydraulic handheld dynamometer, the Short Physical Performance Battery with its balance, 4-meter gait speed and chair stand components, and the five-times chair stand test as a standalone timed endpoint. Testing follows the protocol’s assessment manual, and the same operators run each visit.
Yes. We screen to the SDOC definition (grip strength below 35.5 kg for men or 20 kg for women, plus usual gait speed below 0.8 m/s) and to EWGSOP2 criteria, and we apply protocol-specific SPPB and chair stand windows. Our recruitment team prescreens before scheduling a screening visit.
Yes. Our Hologic DXA system at the Morehead City facility provides whole-body composition, including appendicular lean mass for the appendicular skeletal muscle index (ASMI), and bone mineral density, so baseline and follow-up scans are scheduled in-house within protocol windows.
Yes. West Clinical Research is a dedicated, privately owned clinical research site focused on industry-sponsored trials. We use central IRBs, negotiate contracts and budgets directly, and have a full-time recruitment team, which keeps startup fast and enrollment predictable.
Yes. We prefer central IRBs for rapid study startup, and we run feasibility, budget and regulatory work in parallel so a study can move from contract to first patient in quickly.
We have locations in Morehead City and Greenville, North Carolina, serving the Crystal Coast and Eastern North Carolina. The Morehead City office is at 4218-C Arendell Street. Our dedicated in-house recruitment team draws on a local patient database, community outreach and referring-clinician relationships across the region.
Use the inquiry form on this page or email info@westclinicalresearch.com with the protocol or indication and the strength assessments required. We typically respond with a feasibility answer and site documents within one business day.
07Feasibility
Send us the protocol synopsis or the indication and the strength assessments it requires. We will come back with a feasibility response, investigator CVs and site documents.
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