New Projects Join Movesense Academic Program for Q1 2022

Movesense and its development partner Kaasa Solution support scientific research through an initiative called Movesense Academic Program. The program supports researchers with expert tools and technical help for collecting movement, heart rate and ECG data.

New projects are invited to the program on quarterly basis based on applications. We are excited to announce the first three projects of 2022:

Motion Analysis in Biomechanics and Motor Behaviour

Polytechnic Institute of Santarém – Sport Sciences School of Rio Maior, Santarém, Portugal

The project aims to provide master’s thesis students and researchers in the university’s Physical Activity and Health and Sports Training programs with the skills to assess and monitor athletes and special populations with or without pathologies using new technologies. Within the framework of the project, the researchers intend to monitor and evaluate the effects of physical exercise on various health related topics such as

• The complexity of postural adjustments during specific tasks and in the daily lives of people with fibromyalgia
• Parkinson’s disease
• Motor coordination in people with lumbar spinal stenosis
• Children’s motor coordination during static and dynamic balance tasks

Further research themes include assessing the effects of physical rehabilitation on motor coordination in people with lower limb injuries, evaluating the motor patterns and performance of elite level karate athletes, and studying heart rate variability when performing certain karate exercises.

The projects meets Movesense Academic Program targets in two ways: it will generate new insights through systematic research, and educate students to use modern wearable sensors for solving needs in healthcare and sports. We are looking forward to see the results of this extensive program lead by Adjunct Professor Marco Branco!

Illustration courtesy of Polytechnic Institute of Santarém.

Monitoring the physical activity of perioperative patients

Universitätsklinikum Würzburg, Anästhesiologie, Würzburg, Germany

The study aims at comparing the influence of peridural anesthesia, different surgical techniques, and different medications on activity levels of perioperative patients. Since some of these patients require intensive care, the activity of patients is usually very low. Even small activities must be recorded in order to be able to detect differences between different surgical and anesthesiologic procedures.

This observation study is led by Dr. med Philipp Helmer. The post-operative movement monitoring is made with Movesense sensors in cooperation with Kaasa solution GmbH and scientific colleagues from computer science and bioinformatics at the University of Würzburg. The project is co-funded by the Vogel Foundation. In addition, a continuous 1-lead ECG of the patients is recorded with the help of the Movesense.

The raw data from the sensor is transferred to a smartphone via Bluetooth and analyzed with artificial intelligence tools. To collect patient data for several days in a row, the team uses Kaasa’s new Data Collector LT application. This novel way of measuring activity provides new possibilities for patient monitoring. Therefore, the acquired data will be used to design further clinical trials. The results of the study will be published in medical journals.

A Home-Based Exercise Program for Older Adults Supported by Voice-controlled Intelligent Personal Assistants and Movesense Sensors

Deakin University, Melbourne, Australia

During the COVID-19 pandemic, demand for remote-controlled exercise programs has increased, especially for vulnerable populations such as older adults. Digital tools, such as video conferencing, can support remote exercise programs, but these supervised exercises have a significant time and labor burden for health professionals. This may be unnecessary for the majority of low-risk patients. Websites and mobile applications can reduce this burden. Online tools allow patients to access exercise programs without professional supervision, but they can be challenging for less tech-savvy patients.

Deakin University’s industry partner, Great Australian Pty Ltd, have recently developed Buddy Link, an application that allows health professionals to prescribe and monitor unsupervised exercise programs for patients which are then remotely-delivered by voice assistants, e.g. Amazon Alexa. An important advantage of voice assistants is that patients can use conversation to interact with their prescribed health program. Voice interaction removes the need for technology familiarity, and allows health professionals to monitor patient voice feedback at a convenient time using the Buddy Link software.

A recent pilot study of the university demonstrated excellent exercise adherence, and participants reported on a number of benefits of voice assistants, including ease of use, enjoyability, and motivation to exercise. Nevertheless, participants also reported some disadvantages of the unsupervised exercise sessions delivered via voice assistants. They were lacking objective feedback and suitable progression of the exercise program. This is what the project led by Assistant Professor David Scott aims to solve.

The objectives of the project are three-fold:

• Integrating objective, real time monitoring of movement intensity and physiological data with Movesense sensors into the Buddy Link system. (Featured image courtesy of David Scott, Deakin University)
• Developing a 12-week, voice assistant delivered exercise program for older adults which automatically prescribes suitable progressions in exercise challenge based on Movesense data.
• Conducting a 12-week trial comparing feasibility and efficacy of the automatic program to a “higher burden program” where exercise is progressed manually based on participant voice feedback reviewed by an exercise physiologist.

Movesense team warmly welcomes all three projects to Movesense Academic Program!

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