Projects
The Balance evaluation systems test for children (the kids-bestest): the need for age-specific scoring criteria Hasselt University
Understanding the heterogeneity of balance control in children with Developmental Coordination Disorder and its impact on motor performance: a synergistic approach using brain imaging, neuromechanics and functional assessments. University of Antwerp
Assessment and therapy for trunk function and balance activity using novel technologies in neurorehabilitation KU Leuven
Rehabilitation approaches have great value in decreasing impairment and improving independency in daily living. An expanding field in rehabilitation medicine and increasing part of the clinical programs offered to patients are rehabilitation technologies, stimulating the amount of repetitions, enhancing patients’ motivation, and potentially improving the effectiveness of treatment. The application of these devices is versatile, ranging from ...
Synaptic adhesion molecule sorting and the control of excitation/inhibition balance in the brain KU Leuven
Information processing in the brain critically depends on a balance between excitatory and inhibitory synaptic transmission (E/I balance). A perturbed E/I balance is observed in many cognitive disorders, including autism and schizophrenia. The molecular mechanisms neurons employ to maintain stable E/I ratios and adjust them to activity changes are largely unknown, but synaptic adhesion molecules are thought to play a major role. We ...
A Biomimetic Control Strategy for Robot-assisted Balance KU Leuven
The research projects aims to investigate how a robotic device (like an exoskeleton or a robot) could assist a human being in maintaining balance. The robot should interfere the least possible assuring the person keeps balance. By predicting the movement of the human, the robot will assist adequately and in a comfortable way. Existing models the way a human maintains balance will be combined with balance implementation in robots. This project ...
A framework to explain the altered balance control and low back pain symptoms in individuals with respiratory disorders. KU Leuven
A simulation framework to probe the underlying mechanisms of impaired dynamic balance control during walking post-stroke. KU Leuven
Over 10,000 people suffer from a stroke in Belgium annually, leading to reduced mobility and decreased quality of life. Stroke often leads to unilateral impairments in muscle function, motor control and sensory function, which makes it hard for ambulant stroke survivors to maintain balance while walking. The multiple simultaneous changes in the neuromusculoskeletal system caused by a stroke make it hard, if not impossible, to distinguish the ...
The ecomorphology of balance, from inner ear to locomotion kinematics. University of Antwerp
Providing sitting balance training with a newly developed rehabilitation device in the chronic stage after stroke: a pilot randomized controlled trial KU Leuven
Adequate sitting balance is a key determinant of motor and functional recovery after stroke; patients with better sitting balance ability early after stroke have a higher chance of better motor and functional status at six months. Thus, an important part of rehabilitation is focused on training sitting balance. What is currently unavailable is a rehabilitation device that allows patients to train sitting balance independently as this would ...