Development of a Functional Electrical Stimulation System for Bone Health Maintenance in Spinal Cord Injury Patients
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Reading
Department Name: Sch of Biological Sciences
Abstract
According to statistics from charities such as Every Eight Hours and Spinal Research, there are an estimated 40,000 spinal cord injured people in the UK and a new person is injured every eight hours. Many primary causes of death are now no longer direct results of spinal cord injury but are conditions linked to age and inactivity. This means that there are long-term demands on medical support; in particular, treatment of osteoporotic bone fractures often results in lengthy spells in hospital for individuals with spinal cord injury. It is therefore important to minimize the effect of osteoporosis after spinal cord injury; this highlights the need for exercise programmes to target bone health. The proposed research aims to develop effective Functional Electrical Stimulation (FES) induced weight bearing exercises to improve and maintain bone health in the lower extremities of spinal cord injury patients.
The type of exercises proposed will be completed using a novel smart standing frame and FES system to cyclically activate different sets of muscles whilst maintaining standing and crouch poses. The hypothesis is that these exercises will induce sufficient joint contact forces to be beneficial for bone health in the ankle, knee and hip joints. Using biomechanical modelling software an optimal combination of these exercises will be sought in order to design a rehabilitation programme to target bone health.
To be beneficial to bone health, these exercises need to be repeated several times a week and there is a good chance patients will get bored or frustrated doing the same thing every day. To solve this problem, rehabilitation aids will be developed to keep patients motivated. These aids will use video game technology (based on the Xbox Kinect), to make the sessions more engaging for the patient to encourage compliance and give a sense of achievement. This will also allow the patient and clinician to monitor the progress of a rehabilitation programme and modify it as necessary.
The type of exercises proposed will be completed using a novel smart standing frame and FES system to cyclically activate different sets of muscles whilst maintaining standing and crouch poses. The hypothesis is that these exercises will induce sufficient joint contact forces to be beneficial for bone health in the ankle, knee and hip joints. Using biomechanical modelling software an optimal combination of these exercises will be sought in order to design a rehabilitation programme to target bone health.
To be beneficial to bone health, these exercises need to be repeated several times a week and there is a good chance patients will get bored or frustrated doing the same thing every day. To solve this problem, rehabilitation aids will be developed to keep patients motivated. These aids will use video game technology (based on the Xbox Kinect), to make the sessions more engaging for the patient to encourage compliance and give a sense of achievement. This will also allow the patient and clinician to monitor the progress of a rehabilitation programme and modify it as necessary.
Planned Impact
The proposed research will develop a device to counteract the osteoporosis that occurs in the pelvis and the lower extremities of spinal cord injury patients. Osteoporotic bone fractures significantly increase the risk of mortality but a dependable, simple to use system that enables safe and reliable maintenance of bone health has yet to be developed. Further societal benefits of such a system lie in the increased functional capability and independence of spinal cord injury patients that would result from decreasing the risk of fracture during everyday activities such as wheelchair transfer.
Economic benefits to such a system are closely related to the societal benefits. Figures from spinal cord injury charities give the UK current annual cost of caring for people paralysed by spinal cord injury at more than £500 million. Treatment of osteoporotic bone fractures often results in lengthy spells in hospital for individuals with spinal cord injury. The use of the proposed system to maintain bone health would therefore not only offer the societal benefit of reducing the frequency of hospital visits but would reduce health care costs and the demand on hospitals.
A further societal benefit is to be gained by using video game technology to deliver the exer-gaming system. Playing games that require weight bearing exercises to be performed will make the rehabilitation sessions enjoyable and allow the user to track their progress, giving a sense of achievement. There is a need for more exer-gaming to be targeted with specific exercises for specific patient groups, this research has the potential to form the basis of a future programme for spinal cord injury patients.
Economic benefits to such a system are closely related to the societal benefits. Figures from spinal cord injury charities give the UK current annual cost of caring for people paralysed by spinal cord injury at more than £500 million. Treatment of osteoporotic bone fractures often results in lengthy spells in hospital for individuals with spinal cord injury. The use of the proposed system to maintain bone health would therefore not only offer the societal benefit of reducing the frequency of hospital visits but would reduce health care costs and the demand on hospitals.
A further societal benefit is to be gained by using video game technology to deliver the exer-gaming system. Playing games that require weight bearing exercises to be performed will make the rehabilitation sessions enjoyable and allow the user to track their progress, giving a sense of achievement. There is a need for more exer-gaming to be targeted with specific exercises for specific patient groups, this research has the potential to form the basis of a future programme for spinal cord injury patients.
Organisations
- University of Reading (Lead Research Organisation)
- University College London (Collaboration)
- UNIVERSITY OF LINCOLN (Collaboration)
- Get Active Berkshire (Collaboration)
- UNIVERSITY OF STRATHCLYDE (Collaboration)
- Association for Spinal Injury Research, Rehabilitation and Reintegration (Collaboration)
- Physability (Collaboration, Project Partner)
- MANCHESTER METROPOLITAN UNIVERSITY (Collaboration)
- Generic Robotics (Collaboration)
- Neurokinex (Collaboration, Project Partner)
- University of Leuven (Collaboration)
- Salisbury NHS Foundation Trust (Project Partner)
- Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust (Project Partner)
- Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital (Project Partner)
Publications
Andrews B
(2016)
A Design Method for FES Bone Health Therapy in SCI.
in European journal of translational myology
Armengol M
(2022)
The effect of Functional Electrical Stimulation-assisted posture-shifting in bone mineral density: case series-pilot study.
in Spinal cord series and cases
Zoulias ID
(2019)
Novel instrumented frame for standing exercising of users with complete spinal cord injuries.
in Scientific reports
| Description | Biomechanical tools are built for able bodies, which does not accurately represent the behaviour of a spinal cord injured subject. Therefore, we are studying new ways to represent mathematically, how the muscles would better be modelled and incorporate this into this software. This presents challenges as these don't generally include soft tissues, such as ligaments and tendons, which we believe play a big role when muscles are atrophied. During the pilot study for FES standing, we were able to test an exer-game, which we found motivates participants to achieve force goals better. Nevertheless, the difficulty and variety of the game are key in order to maintain engagement. As a result of the pilot study with SCI individuals, we observed that dynamic FES-assisted load-shifting exercises can increase bone mineral density in the proximal and distal tibia in SCI individuals after 26 weeks of training, twice a week, in addition to FES leg extension 1h, 3 times a week. This results also allow us to conclude that the combination of high transient FES assisted force exercise with low force FES assisted exercises can improve BMD in SCI individuals. These results open a window to design a high variety of therapeutic technologies to improve bone. Nevertheless, the number of participants that completed the study was 3, from 12 that were recruited. This makes it challenging to draw conclusions. It is desired to repeat this study in a higher number of participants and a longer period of time in order to validate findings. |
| Exploitation Route | Our findings can be used by other groups working with SCI subjects, to produce new exercises and expand upon the work or increasing bone mass density. Our work will also be highly relevant to charities or organisations who aim to improve the life of SCI subjects, for them to use the exercise routines in a broader population. Many SCI individuals suffer from secondary conditions associated with a sedentary lifestyle, bringing new options of exercise that have direct improvements in bone but also secondary benefits for muscle and ligament, posture and pressure ulcers, is very beneficial for that population. The primary focus is on subjects with upper motor neuron damage, due the spinal cord injury, but the results may be extended to other disabilities, for example: stroke patients; elderly persons. This research has the potential to reduce the incidence of secondary (health, functional and financial) costs associated with fracture. |
| Sectors | Digital/Communication/Information Technologies (including Software),Electronics,Healthcare,Leisure Activities, including Sports, Recreation and Tourism,Other |
| URL | http://fesreading.uk/ |
| Description | Our findings can be used by charities and organisations who help SCI subjects improve their quality of life. Additionally, it could potentially be added to NHS rehabilitation therapies after SCI, to help patients preserve their bone mass density and reduce fragility fractures. Additionally, there is evidence elsewhere of the possibility of cellular treatment for some cases of spinal cord injury in the future. Therefore, improvement of bone mass density will be more relevant for all those subjects who aspire to walk again. |
| First Year Of Impact | 2018 |
| Sector | Education,Healthcare |
| Impact Types | Societal |
| Description | H3 Symposium grant |
| Amount | £5,000 (GBP) |
| Organisation | Physiological Society |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| Country | Global |
| Start | 11/2017 |
| End | 10/2018 |
| Description | University Endowment Fund |
| Amount | £500 (GBP) |
| Organisation | University of Reading |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 04/2018 |
| End | 12/2018 |
| Title | Biomechanical Model for SCI |
| Description | As part of the research project, a GUI of an SCI model was developed in matlab. As an improvement of this tool we are working on developing it using the platform of OpenSim, which is an opensource software for biomechanics. The developed GUI allows to model an SCI injury individual doing standing movements. It allows to modify the maximal isometric forces of the muscles stimulated. It uses FES input to control the muscles. This will allow to design new therapies and assess bone-on-bone forces as a result. This will be made available through published article (not yet). |
| Type Of Material | Model of mechanisms or symptoms - human |
| Year Produced | 2018 |
| Provided To Others? | No |
| Impact | The field of biomechanical models for SCI individuals is quite small and not very developed. Hopefully having new tools available to understand the biomechanics and make it easier to develop models, will help more people get involved. This will allow for better rehabilitation therapies to be designed and ultimately available for SCI population. |
| Title | Frame |
| Description | A novel fully instrumented frame has been developed to allow paraplegic patients to stand up as well as exercises in a safe environment while recording data to demonstrate the progression and compression forces achieved at each trial. The frame is coupled with a game to make it fun and interactive with the subject |
| Type Of Material | Improvements to research infrastructure |
| Year Produced | 2018 |
| Provided To Others? | No |
| Impact | The Impact will allow developing a smaller frame for home users to improve BMD in paraplegic subjects in a safe and fun environment. A paper is being under review with Scientific REport (Springer Nature) |
| URL | http://fesreading.uk/ |
| Title | Bone density development predicted by forces that occur during exercise routines in spinal cord injury subjects |
| Description | We continue optimising the develop a model to predict the cortical and trabecular bone density development as a function of the forces applied to lower limbs during specific movements and positions. These forces were measured through force plates while SCI subjects perform load-bearing exercises. The bone mass indicators (cortical and trabecular area), diaphyseal design (cortical and trabecular thickness, moment of inertia) and material quality (bone mass density) were obtained from pQCT scans from an SCI subject. The stress and strain distribution was obtained by approximating this data to geometric values of one SCI subject and applying forces (obtained from exercises performed by SCI subject) in the ankle joint. Currently, we are preparing to perform more scans (pQCT), to collect data from other subjects and validate the model. |
| Type Of Material | Computer model/algorithm |
| Provided To Others? | No |
| Impact | This is a non-invasive model that will allow planning a set of exercises routines that will ultimately produce homogeneous bone mass increase across all sections of the bones of the lower limb. This will allow the development of bone mass in SCI subjects, which is becoming more relevant as treatments for spinal cord are being developed. |
| Title | Modelling of spinal cord injury subjects |
| Description | We aimed to obtain a series of motions that would allow increasing bone mass density across the bone by using motion analysis systems. In this topic we have carried out the following work: 1. We have done extensive tests with one paraplegic subject highly experienced in FES. These tests have provided us with data of SCI subject to compare with able bodies and to validate the results from developed models. 2. Using inverse dynamics, muscle activation for each movement was analysed for able bodies and for paraplegic subjects. 3. From previous analysis it was concluded that the use of optimization functions should be adapted to better model what happens in spinal cord injury motions. In order to do this, different ways of finding non-redundant set of muscles to perform the predefined set of movements is being investigated. |
| Type Of Material | Computer model/algorithm |
| Provided To Others? | No |
| Impact | This will allow to understand the effect of different motions and exercises in spinal cord injury subjects. Additionally, it will promote the use of models to accurately predict motion, forces, moments, muscle engagement in spinal cord injury subjects. |
| Title | Real time joint contact forces |
| Description | The combination of the forces taken from the force plates on the standing frame and the centre of pressure on with respect to the foot length, will be input for a model to predict joint contact force in ankle joint. Later this model will be extended to read the motion capture system in order to allow to estimate forces in knee and hip joints. |
| Type Of Material | Computer model/algorithm |
| Provided To Others? | No |
| Impact | This model will allow to have immediate feedback into what the participants are doing and allow for adjustments in the exer-game and control system in order obtain high forces (>1.5xBW) in the different areas of the lower limb. |
| Title | SCI pQCT scans |
| Description | We collected the bone data of our study participants using a pQCT scanner (XCT 3000) before standing exercises and after standing exercises (5-6 months). |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2018 |
| Provided To Others? | No |
| Impact | Results will be made available through publication. This will contribute to the database and knowledge of bone changes in the SCI population. |
| Description | Biomechanical Modelling |
| Organisation | University of Leuven |
| Country | Belgium |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | We are developing a biomechanical model of SCI |
| Collaborator Contribution | The group of Dr. Jokers in KU Leuven are experts in the development of biomechanical models in Opensim. They have provided their expertise in the support of the development of our model. |
| Impact | The collaboration will include engineers with knowledge of biomechanics, anatomy and human movement, to try to model accurately SCI movements using FES. |
| Start Year | 2017 |
| Description | Collaboration with the Fashion Institute |
| Organisation | Manchester Metropolitan University |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | i have supported with the design of the new electrodes and test experiments |
| Collaborator Contribution | Funding for 2 RAs part-time to support the development of novel surface electrodes to reduce fatigues embedded into clothing |
| Impact | collaboration is multidisciplinary from engineers to electronics engineers. physiotherapist, biomedical experts, and textile design experts |
| Start Year | 2018 |
| Description | Exergaming design collaboration |
| Organisation | University of Lincoln |
| Department | School of English and Journalism |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | We have provided our expertise in human biomechanics, especially in relation to people with paraplegia, as well as access to the FES exercising frame and the biomechanical data recorded. Our contribution will be used for the improvement of user interface design, and to enhance the user's immersion and attention during gaming experiences. Furthermore we have established a link for students to benefit from our collaboration, by creating project opportunities where students from Lincoln university can have access to the equipment and expertise of our project for designing novel exergaming solutions. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Lincoln university is contributing Human-computer interaction, and graphical user interface design expertise to help us develop a more immersive and engaging exergaming experience for use during experiments. Materially, they have contributed computer software that we modilfy and adapted to work with the FES instrumented frame for use during experiments. We expect that their continuing input will enhance the experimental conditions and will facilitate the process of real-time user feedback. |
| Impact | a) Engagement activity: Designing Playful Systems to Support Well-Being b) Software and technical products: Exergaming software platform for experimentation |
| Start Year | 2016 |
| Description | Peripheral Quantitative Computer Tomography (pQCT) equipment share |
| Organisation | University College London |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | We are carrying out research using the pQCT scanner. We have also learned how to use it and added to information of SCI bone |
| Collaborator Contribution | Dr. Liu at UCL, with agreement of the medical physicists of the Department, allowed us to borrow the pQCT scanner to carry out our studies in Reading, rather than needed our participants to travel to London when scans were needed. This was a great help to the logistics of the pilot study we were carrying out. |
| Impact | This partnership allowed us to carry out the pQCT scans in-house, which meant that our study participants didn't have to travel somewhere else to do their scans.At the moment there is a final year project that uses the scans of our participants, taken with the pQCT scanner. Additionally, we expect an article to be published from this work. |
| Start Year | 2016 |
| Description | Peripheral Quantitative Computer Tomography (pQCT) learning |
| Organisation | University of Strathclyde |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | We are carrying out research using a pQCT scanner using methods taught by Dr. Coupaud |
| Collaborator Contribution | Dr Coupaud, who is an experienced researcher in bone in SCI, taught us how to use the pQCT scanner and techniques she uses to produce high quality scans in SCI individuals. |
| Impact | From this collaboration we are using the scan, which has been an important asset to our research. Currently there is an undergrad student project based on the data obtained from the pQCT scan and we expect an article to be submitted related to this topic. |
| Start Year | 2017 |
| Description | Recruitment collaboration with SCI charities and organisations |
| Organisation | Association for Spinal Injury Research, Rehabilitation and Reintegration |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | We have made leaflets and made contact with organisations to recruit participants from sport or rehabilitation organisations in near by areas |
| Collaborator Contribution | Partners have passed on the information, leaflet and contacts to the SCI community in their organisations. This link between us and participants has been key for the recruitment process. Some of these organisations are ASPIRE, Get Berkshire Active, NeuroKinex, physability |
| Impact | We have recruited 8 potential participants. |
| Start Year | 2015 |
| Description | Recruitment collaboration with SCI charities and organisations |
| Organisation | Get Active Berkshire |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | We have made leaflets and made contact with organisations to recruit participants from sport or rehabilitation organisations in near by areas |
| Collaborator Contribution | Partners have passed on the information, leaflet and contacts to the SCI community in their organisations. This link between us and participants has been key for the recruitment process. Some of these organisations are ASPIRE, Get Berkshire Active, NeuroKinex, physability |
| Impact | We have recruited 8 potential participants. |
| Start Year | 2015 |
| Description | Recruitment collaboration with SCI charities and organisations |
| Organisation | NeuroKinex |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | We have made leaflets and made contact with organisations to recruit participants from sport or rehabilitation organisations in near by areas |
| Collaborator Contribution | Partners have passed on the information, leaflet and contacts to the SCI community in their organisations. This link between us and participants has been key for the recruitment process. Some of these organisations are ASPIRE, Get Berkshire Active, NeuroKinex, physability |
| Impact | We have recruited 8 potential participants. |
| Start Year | 2015 |
| Description | Recruitment collaboration with SCI charities and organisations |
| Organisation | Physability |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | We have made leaflets and made contact with organisations to recruit participants from sport or rehabilitation organisations in near by areas |
| Collaborator Contribution | Partners have passed on the information, leaflet and contacts to the SCI community in their organisations. This link between us and participants has been key for the recruitment process. Some of these organisations are ASPIRE, Get Berkshire Active, NeuroKinex, physability |
| Impact | We have recruited 8 potential participants. |
| Start Year | 2015 |
| Description | Smart frame Technologies |
| Organisation | Generic Robotics |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | UoR set the system specifications based on previous experimentation. Measurement points were defined and UoR developed code to communicate with the smart frame |
| Collaborator Contribution | Generic Robotics offered up suitable technologies to provide fall arrest and instrumentation systems. Additionally GR used their own contacts within the health and fitness industry to a body weight counter balancing system. |
| Impact | Suitable smart frame technologies have been developed with generic robotics leading to an operational fall arrest and measurement system located at UoR. Following the collaboration GR offered a position of permanent employment to one of the Research Assistants as a senior research and development engineer. |
| Start Year | 2015 |
| Title | 16 Channel Controllable Functional Electrical Stimulator |
| Description | We have improved the design and functionality of the 16 channel controllable FES medical device based on feedback from pilot studies that were conducted throughout 2016. Furthermore, we have produced a thorough safety investigation of the device for human use and produced and maintained a user manual for the device. |
| Type | Therapeutic Intervention - Medical Devices |
| Current Stage Of Development | Refinement. Non-clinical |
| Year Development Stage Completed | 2016 |
| Development Status | Under active development/distribution |
| Impact | We have maintained our collaboration with Odstock medical Ltd. |
| Title | Assessment of BMD |
| Description | A master student with the support of the team has been developing a tool to measure Bone Mineral Density from the pQCT scan image. The result and data will form a publication in the near future. Furthermore, a collaboration has been initiated with Dr Pawel Dlotko - Swansea University for the use of homology as a metric to measure BMD |
| Type | Diagnostic Tool - Imaging |
| Current Stage Of Development | Initial development |
| Year Development Stage Completed | 2018 |
| Development Status | Under active development/distribution |
| Impact | This technique will help medical staff to assess the BMD in a standard manner. It has also given us further support in understanding the impact of BMD on SCI which will be relevant to the medical staff |
| Title | Paraplegic muscle training protocol |
| Description | We have developed an exercising protocol to guide research participants who are paraplegic from the stages of untrained muscle to FES assisted standing. The protocol consists of a UoR build standing frame and a set of exercises of incremental difficulty to train the individual lower limb muscles from a weakened state to where they can support standing. |
| Type | Support Tool - For Medical Intervention |
| Current Stage Of Development | Refinement. Non-clinical |
| Year Development Stage Completed | 2017 |
| Development Status | Under active development/distribution |
| Impact | Impacts on the speed of muscle improvement are currently under investigation. |
| Title | Smart Standing Frame |
| Description | A smart frame for paraplegic subjects to stand a perform load shifting movements was completed. This movements will allow paraplegic subjects to subject their joints to high transient forces that, if repeated consistently will allows to improve bone health. This frame has force plates, side bars with load cells which allow to record forces when in use. Additionally, the frame has an electronic winch that attaches to a harness to help subject to stand. The harness and winch also serves as a safety mechanism to prevent falls. |
| Type | Therapeutic Intervention - Physical |
| Current Stage Of Development | Refinement. Non-clinical |
| Year Development Stage Completed | 2016 |
| Development Status | Under active development/distribution |
| Impact | This novel standing frames allow safe active standing while recording forces. If this study shows an improvement in bone health though shifting exercises, the frame could be incorporated into rehabilitation therapies to be performed in spinal rehabilitation centres. The frame will serve as a starting point for a smaller version to be used by the SCI population at home. |
| Title | UoR 16 Channel Controllable Functional Electrical Stimulator |
| Description | The product developed provides 16 manually adjustable channels for FES applications. In addition the channels can be controlled by a computer via a USB serial interface. This allows for easier development of the complex control patterns and strategies needed for FES supported standing and posture shifting. This type of device is not currently available on the market and development was funded by this awarded EPSRC grant and carried out by one of the employed RA's. Risk assessment of the use of the 16 channel FES stimulator has been carried out. Performance and parameters (output voltage, output current) were comparable to commercially available stimulators (4 channel Odstock Medical Limited, UK). |
| Type | Therapeutic Intervention - Medical Devices |
| Current Stage Of Development | Initial development |
| Year Development Stage Completed | 2015 |
| Development Status | Under active development/distribution |
| Impact | This development has led to further collaboration with Odstock Medical Limited. |
| Title | Exergaming software platform for experimentation |
| Description | The software merges exercising and gaming in an immersive experience for the user during experiments. The exergaming software presents the user with a virtual skiing exercise which can be controlled through body movements during the exercise. Furthermore, body posture and exercising results information are being fed-back to the user for improving the exercising output. This software can be used during experiments that aim to improve bone health for people with paraplegia in order to alleviate boredom and mental tiredness that is typically associated with experimental paradigms, and provide a better motivation for training. |
| Type Of Technology | Software |
| Year Produced | 2017 |
| Impact | Methodological improvement in the conduction of experiments. |
| Title | Sensory stream synchronisation platform |
| Description | This software merges recordings from the range of sensors fitted to the FES standing frame (force plates, load cells, motion capture systems, controllable FES device) and synchronises them with a +/- 1ms accuracy. The software can then save any subset of the raw information as well as data derived on-line from the stream of information such as centre of forces applied. In addition, all the software can also stream relevant information to the exergaming software and provide real time control for the FES device based on the biomechanical info derived from the recorded infromation. |
| Type Of Technology | Software |
| Year Produced | 2017 |
| Impact | This software has greatly decreased the pre-processing time of data, requiring very little post-recording adjustment as was previously the case. |
| Description | 1st International workshop on LSL (Delmenhorst,Germany) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | The event was an international conference for the "lab-streaming layer" (LSL), a synchronising and data transmission protocol for use in experimental setups. The event was attended by academics working with LSL, university students, technical support staff working in research lab, and industry representatives from sensor manufacturers. A researcher from this project presented work on i) integrating new devices with LSL, ii) the timing issues and a solution with sampling time accuracy, and iii) the methods for verifying system delays. During the workshop the researcher met with the creators and maintainers of the LSL software and exchanged notes on how to verify the system delays, and talked about features that would be helpful to add to the existing LSL protocol. We also got validation on the data streaming back-end system that we have developed as part of this project from the perspective of the LSL software designers. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
| URL | http://www.h-w-k.de/veranstaltungen/tagungen-details/first-international-workshop-on-lsl.html |
| Description | A Design Method for FES Bone Health Therapy in SCI |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | This paper was accepted in iFess conference which took place in Montpelier, France. There were about 100-150 people in the audience. This abstract was later published in a journal. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
| URL | http://ifess2016.inria.fr/ |
| Description | BBC Berkshire radio interview |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | A radio interview as part of the British science week, presenting the research and technology developed as part of this project |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| Description | Basingstoke Discovery Centre (HHI presentation) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Part of the British science week, researchers from this project presented a talk on how the human body electrophysiology works, with an interactive demo showing how electricity from one person's body can be harnessed to control another person. Apart from an exciting look into what the future of FES research outcome might entail, the audience was informed on how this exciting technology is used today for rehabilitation and research purposes. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| Description | Designing Playful Systems to Support Well-Being |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | This talk was given by Dr. Kathrin Gerling who is a Lecturer in Computer Science, University of Lincoln. She was invited to give this talk in Reading University, Biomedical Engineering Centre. Dr Gerling was invited to be a collaborator in this project on the exer-gaming side of the study. Several investigators in the department and students came to hear the talk. Questions about the development of exer-gaming for the elderly or people with disabilities and also about the psychological and practical implications of developing games for these people. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| Description | FES Standing (Berlin Polytechnic University) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Undergraduate students |
| Results and Impact | Seminar to University students about the research being carried out for this grant. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| Description | Great things you can do as an engineer |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | A talk given to promote STEM careers in the students of grade 10 (around age 15) . This was with the intention of celebrating International Women's day. Around 100 people (50 girls) from two local girls schools and students from UTC and Reading college attended the talk. We received many questions after the talk about pursuing science. Many attendees reported being inspired by the presentation. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| URL | http://m.reading-college.ac.uk/news/celebrating-international-women%E2%80%99s-day |
| Description | Group website |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | The website has allowed us to publish information and news about the study. Additionally, it has helped with the recruiting process as it provides an easy tool for potential participants to get familiarised with the study. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016,2017 |
| URL | http://fesreading.uk |
| Description | Leighton Park school - Big bang Event 2018 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | Participation in the Big Bang Event hosted at the Leighton park school, reading, where pupils from schools around the region learned about biophysical signals and cutting edge rehabilitation research through interactive demos. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| URL | https://www.flickr.com/photos/95395492@N08/sets/72157664611316907 |
| Description | Reading Geek Night - Science Week - 2018 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | A public presentation organised as part of the Science week from a local science and technology enthousiast group "Reading Geek Nights", talking about the research outcomes of this study and cutting edge rehabilitation engineering in general. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| URL | https://rdggeeknight.wordpress.com/2018/02/20/reading-geek-night-tuesday-13th-march-2018/ |
| Description | Rehabweek - Ifess - Poster presentation |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Third sector organisations |
| Results and Impact | Poster presentation at the RehabWeek international conference, presenting the latest research outcomes from the design and preliminary testing of the FES standing platform. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| URL | http://www.rehabweek.org/2017 |
| Description | Royal institution Christmas Lectures - BBC4 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
| Results and Impact | We presented a live demo which we produced, on the technology we use in our research as part of the finishing segment of the second part of the annual RI christmas lectures which are aired on BBC 4. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| URL | http://www.rigb.org/christmas-lectures/watch/2017/the-language-of-life/silent-messages |
| Description | School Visit (East Ham) - Danger High Voltage |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | Researchers from this project formed part of a small team that was invited to a school in East Ham for a presentation on electrophysiology and applying functional electrical stimulation technology for improving the future. This talk formed part of the "The Science of Life: How your body works 2016" competition organised by the physiological society. The students, aged 16-18 won this talk as part of their silver award in the competition. After the presentation, student approached us with questions on how to follow a career in science, and most importantly bio-engineering. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
| URL | https://physocblogs.wordpress.com/2016/11/07/danger-high-voltage/ |
| Description | School Visit (Leighton Park) - Big bang near me |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | Researchers from our group participated in an outreach activity for school kids between the ages of 8 - 12. The students, coming from a range of local schools, had the chance to see first hand a demo of the electrophysiology of the human bodies, in terms of their brain wave and the muscle activity. This event was part of the "The Big Bang near me" programme that aims to promote science and research to young students. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
| URL | http://fesreading.uk/school-outreach-the-big-bang-near-me |
| Description | Scientia Article |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | We produced a science outreach article for disseminating project research outputs to the general public and increasing awareness of our work. We have shared the article in social media and as an aid for when general public has questions on our research. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| URL | https://www.scientia.global/wp-content/uploads/Holderbaum_Zoulias_Armegol/Zoulias-Holderbaum-Armengo... |
| Description | Sylvie Coupaud visit - Musculoskeletal imaging and rehabilitation interventions |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | On the 23rd of May, Dr. Sylvie Coupaud from University of Strathclyde visited the FES group and presented a compelling seminar on "Musculoskeletal imaging and rehabilitation interventions in patients with Spinal Cord Injury (SCI)". In her talk, Dr. Coupaud covered how pQCT imaging can be used to track bone loss in individuals with paraplegia, and how intervention studies can be used for bone health rehabilitation, drawing from results from her past and present studies conducted |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| URL | http://fesreading.uk/visit-and-seminar-by-dr-sylvie-coupaud-of-university-of-strathclyde |
| Description | Talk at Technische Universität, Berlin Germany |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | Talk on FES standing to improve bone density |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| Description | Talk on Potential new FES and EES (epidural electrical stimulation) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Patients, carers and/or patient groups |
| Results and Impact | A talk was given on the potential use of FES for EES (epidural electrical stimulation) . this is followed by the possibility of bypassing the epidural using FES. There has been a use interest and collaboration was initiated for raising awareness |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| Description | The Conversation - Robotic Trousers |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | An online article discussing the application of new rehabilitation engineering research and its effect on people with disabilities. It was published online at The Conversation and has been read over 14500 times since publication. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| URL | https://theconversation.com/robotic-trousers-could-help-disabled-people-walk-again-103174 |
| Description | The Conversation - Spinal Implant |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | An online article discussing spinal implant technologies and the prospects of treating spinal cord injuries . It was published online at The Conversation and has been read over 3500 times since publication, and has resulted in further questions by the general public on the biomedical engineering research for use in spinal cord injuries. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| URL | https://theconversation.com/spinal-implant-breakthroughs-are-helping-people-with-paraplegia-walk-aga... |
| Description | The signals we can get from our body |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | This was a small workshop/demo that was given in an STEM event organised by Reading College to promote science. The demo demonstrate EMG and motion capture blended together to produce a visual input. It was designed for young kids to play with. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| Description | University presentation |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | Discussion of research with postgraduate and undergraduate students at Oxford Brookes. Students that attended were either studying or interested in rehabilitation technologies, and occupational therapies. The presentation was followed by questions and discussion this also provided the project with a subject recruitment opportunity. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
| Description | Visit by Alex Ireland - Human models of Bone mechanoadaption |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Dr. Ireland presented his recent findings obtained from study of models of human loading across the lifespan by our group and other colleagues in the field. In addition he explained how employment of this knowledge can improve and maintain bone health and reduce fracture risk in individuals of all ages. The talk was attended by academics, Phd, and undergraduate students from the University of Reading. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| URL | http://fesreading.uk/talk-by-alex-ireland-human-models-of-bone-mechanoadaptation |
| Description | YES competition |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | Participation in YES competition, where as a group innovative ideas were developed and presented in front of a panel of experts. There was a 3 day workshop to develop the idea, the presentation and the different stages/areas of product developement |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| Description | iFESS 2017- Rehab Week Poster presentation |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | During Rehab week a poster about how to model forces for spinal cord injury individuals and the current problems that exist in the adaptation of different methods. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |