When I was a PhD student studying sports biomechanics and sports medicine at the University of Oregon, our laboratory was as big as a basketball court.  It turned out that it was converted from one.  There, we mainly studied sports injuries of the lower extremities, and especially protective functions of athletic shoes to the lower extremities.  Before Nike and some other well-known companies launched their new brands, they commissioned us to do human body functional testing with their sample shoes to improve the designs of the shoes.