\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Butz-Julia.png\")
Kinesiology student Julia Butz conducts ultrasound imaging research with Shawn Hanlon, assistant professor of kinesiology.\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t <\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tKinesiology student Julia Butz conducts ultrasound imaging research with Shawn Hanlon, assistant professor of kinesiology.\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
<\/p>\n
When Cal State Fullerton undergraduate student Julia Butz first emailed Shawn Hanlon, assistant professor of kinesiology and a member of the musculoskeletal health and performance research team, after finishing one of his classes, she simply wanted to say thank you.<\/p>\n
\u201cI really liked the class,\u201d said Butz. \u201cAnd I mentioned that his research sounded cool.\u201d<\/p>\n
That message sparked a mentorship that grew into a funded research project through the Undergraduate Research Opportunity Center, a unit within the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs.<\/p>\n
Now a UROC student fellow, Butz is helping design and carry out a study using advanced ultrasound imaging to evaluate hamstring muscles. Hamstrings are notoriously difficult to measure because even a small change in probe position or angle can alter what the image captures. Ultrasound images capture only a very thin slice of tissue, so precision and consistency are critical.<\/p>\n
According to Hanlon, \u201cWhen you are looking at ultrasound, you are looking through a credit card-thin slice. You have to line that up with the exact same spot and then two months from now find that same spot again.\u201d<\/p>\n
Learning the Tool and Shaping the Question<\/p>\n
Butz quickly realized she would need to develop new technical skills and help shape the study itself. Before she could collect meaningful data, she had to learn to use the ultrasound machine. Although Butz was familiar with kinesiology concepts, operating and interpreting ultrasound images was entirely new.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe steep learning curve of ultrasound imaging is orientation,\u201d she said. \u201cWhat am I looking at? Which side of the screen is up?\u201d<\/p>\n
With repetition, that uncertainty faded.<\/p>\n
\u201cNow I can see an image and know what I am looking at because I have seen it so many times,\u201d she explained.<\/p>\n
While mastering the ultrasound machine, she was also helping shape the focus and procedures of the study.<\/p>\n
\u201cDeveloping a research question on its own, that was what was novel for me,\u201d she said. \u201cThat was the frontier that I had not explored yet.\u201d<\/p>\n
However, it was not just about asking the right question, but also about testing whether someone new to the technique could perform at a level comparable to an expert.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have 10 years of experience in ultrasound. Julia has two months,\u201d Hanlon said. \u201cThe question we are asking is whether she can take the same measurements as I. If a new learner can match an expert, it suggests clinicians with standard training might one day use the procedure reliably.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hanlon emphasizes that the significance of the project comes not just from the question Butz helped define, but also from the scope and rigor of the study itself.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is graduate-level work,\u201d he said. \u201cEven doctoral level in some respects, because the study design, precision and methods require careful planning and consistency.\u201d<\/p>\n
From the Lab to the Clinic<\/p>\n
The study also incorporates shear wave elastography, a technique that estimates tissue stiffness while the participant is at rest. The approach avoids muscle contraction, which can be painful, especially for someone recovering from injury.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe real value add is we do not want to provoke pain,\u201d Hanlon said. \u201cYou are lying there, and we just click a button. It estimates stiffness for us.\u201d<\/p>\n
Butz sees the clinical implications clearly.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf someone is injured, you do not always want to ask them to contract as hard as they can,\u201d she said. \u201cBeing able to look at it in a resting position is really powerful.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hanlon frames the goal in practical terms.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy focus is to conduct studies that are translatable, so you can take my results and use them on Monday in your own practice,\u201d he said. \u201cJulia is helping make that happen.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ultrasound machines are becoming more accessible in health care settings, but not every clinician has deep imaging experience.<\/p>\n
\u201cNot every physical therapist is an expert on hamstrings,\u201d Butz said. \u201cIf we can prove that it is reliable, even without 10 years of experience, then clinics that already have these machines could use them to see a patient every week and quickly scan the same spot to see progression.\u201d<\/p>\n
Early Results and a Growing Researcher<\/p>\n
Early findings are encouraging.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn our short sample so far, we have been able to get similar numbers,\u201d Hanlon said. \u201cThat is what we were hoping to see.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThings are promising,\u201d Butz added. \u201cThe measurements I am taking are lining up with Dr. Hanlon\u2019s, which is really exciting.\u201d<\/p>\n
For Butz, the experience has been about more than just running experiments. She has worked closely with Hanlon to shape both the research question and the study itself, learning what it takes to design and carry out meaningful research. With support from UROC, she had the funding and structure to pursue the project over the course of a year, turning curiosity into hands-on discovery.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am the only kinesiology major in the UROC Fellows program right now,\u201d she said. \u201cThere are art students, music students and chemists. Even though our projects are different, we see each other all the time, and there are things I\u2019ve learned from them and taken into this lab.\u201d<\/p>\n
Looking back, she credits that first step.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt really just started with me reaching out,\u201d she said. \u201cIf a student is interested in something, there are a lot of avenues available to explore that interest.\u201d<\/p>\n
What began as a simple thank you email has become research with real potential to change how clinicians monitor injury recovery and an experience that has transformed one undergraduate into a confident, emerging scholar.<\/p>\n
By Nico Xepoleas<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Kinesiology student Julia Butz conducts ultrasound imaging research with Shawn Hanlon, assistant professor of kinesiology.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":206678,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[163,165,164],"class_list":{"0":"post-206677","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-anaheim","8":"tag-anaheim","9":"tag-anaheim-headlines","10":"tag-anaheim-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/206677","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=206677"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/206677\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/206678"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=206677"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=206677"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=206677"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}