Movement lab UHasselt investigates rehabilitation techniques in VR environment
The Faculty of Rehabilitation Sciences at UHasselt can now use the high-tech movement lab GRAIL. The lab consists of an advanced treadmill with a platform that measures step strength, among other things, a screen on which a virtual environment is projected, and numerous cameras that meticulously record and analyze the subject's balance and every movement.
The Faculty of Rehabilitation Sciences at UHasselt can now use the high-tech movement lab GRAIL. The lab consists of an advanced treadmill with a platform that measures step strength, among other things, a screen on which a virtual environment is projected, and numerous cameras that meticulously record and analyze the subject's balance and every movement.
The Faculty of Rehabilitation Sciences at UHasselt can now use the high-tech movement lab GRAIL. The lab consists of an advanced treadmill with a platform that measures step strength, among other things, a screen on which a virtual environment is projected, and numerous cameras that meticulously record and analyze the subject's balance and every movement. "With GRAIL, we can simulate lifelike situations, allowing us to research and develop new rehabilitation techniques for all kinds of patient populations," says Prof. Pieter Meyns, coordinator of the movement lab.
GRAIL - which stands for 'Gait Real-time Analysis Interactive Lab' - contains an advanced treadmill consisting of two separate step surfaces, allowing lin k and right foot to move at different rates. The treadmill can not only move uphill, downhill or sideways, but also simulate tripping, for example.
"Particularly interesting for our research, because in this way we can start to make sudden disturbances in our patients' walking trajectory and we can see what happens when the patient loses balance for a moment, for example," Meyns explains. "That way you find out a lot of interesting things that you can use to develop new rehabilitation pathways for specific patient groups."
After UZ Gent, UHasselt is the second institution in Flanders to have a GRAIL movement lab. "In addition to our own research projects, we will also work with UZ Gent on motion analysis and new rehabilitation applications within all kinds of patient populations," Meyns said. "We are thinking of children with developmental disabilities, individuals with MS or people with low back pain who would benefit from very specific rehabilitation exercises."
Furthermore, UHasselt wants to use the infrastructure for services through the RELAB platform and research collaborations with external partners, such as sports shoe manufacturers and orthopedic producers, or pharmaceutical companies. Collaborations with local hospitals for research and clinical applications for patients are also among the possibilities.
Latest insights & stories
SMART SHIPPING
With a navigable waterway network of over 1,000 km, inland navigation in Flanders is an interesting alternative to road freight transport. With Smart Shipping, we want to improve the efficiency of that inland shipping network. Data sharing, logistics innovation and vessel automation are a core part of this. Our waterways and the inland waterway transport do not stop at our Flemish borders. That is why working with our international partners is essential.
CLEAN POWER FOR TRANSPORT
To fulfil climate targets, we need to make mobility greener. In doing so, we need to focus not only on making current mobility solutions greener, but also on shifting to more environmentally friendly forms of transport. Thus, the Clean Power for Transport action plan focuses on greening the vehicle fleet across all segments and rolling out the necessary infrastructure. For this, the Department of Mobility and Public Works also works together with foreign partners where possible for knowledge exchange and cross-border solutions.
MOBILITY AS A SERVICE
To promote sustainable combimobility, we are working on Mobility as a Service (MaaS) in Flanders. MaaS gives users access to multimodal transport solutions with greater user-friendliness, putting the end user at the centre. But organising mobility is a complex task. Users want control and reliability, but also freedom and flexibility. For this, we need reliable apps and agreements with providers and all MaaS actors. A full-fledged MaaS ecosystem, as it were. We are on the lookout for international knowledge sharing and cooperation to ensure combimobility reaches far beyond our own borders.