December 1st Inter$^2$ seminar - Bernd Grimm (LIH)

Bernd Grimm presented research projects and interests from his group at LIH and in particular the interfaces where data science and computational modeling can create collaborative opportunities!

Title: Capturing human movement and physical activity for diagnostics, outcome and treatment in clinic and research: the HOSD group at LIH.

Abstract: Physical activity and human movement and their behavioural, functional and (sports) performance aspects are increasingly recognized as outcome, (early) diagnostic biomarker and modality for treatment, prevention or delay in many disease areas. This particularly applies to where the musculoskeletal system is directly affected, e.g. in orthopaedics and sports injury but also where the effects are indirect and also increasingly evident such as with neurodegenerative diseases and other non-communicable diseases (NCD's) of high patient and socioeconomic burden such as cancers, diabetes, multiple sclerosis or also ageing.

The pain-free return to specific activities of daily living is a major goal of most patients as is the fast and safe return-to-play in athletes. Achieving certain levels of functional capacity and physical activity after treatment is known to increase not only treatment survival and outcome but also patient wellbeing, satisfaction or mobility towards independent living. Thus, the assessment of human movement and physical activity, under controlled conditions in the (gait) lab or at the clinic upon patient visit but especially in the free field (e.g. sports pitch) and more so, during daily real-life (remote monitoring) should be included in any clinical trial or personalized medicine approach. It promises novel insights (e.g. new digital mobility parameters), treatment modalities (e.g. exercise or physical activity interventions) and opportunities for patient engagement (e.g. coaching advise, patient-centred care, participatory medicine).

This presentation introduces the HOSD (Human Motion, Orthopaedics, Sports Medicine, Digital Methods) group at the Luxembourg Institute of Health and the Department of Precision Health, and its role and infrastructural capacity in the context of the above (e.g. laboratory, wearable sensors, digital methods including computer vision based techniques).