Faculty/School

Faculty of Health

School of Exercise and Nutrition Sciences

Topic status

We're looking for students to study this topic.

Research centre

Supervisors

Overview

Being able to assess the effectiveness of an exercise intervention for a clinical population is a corner stone of clinical practice. Whilst exercise physiologist can assess changes in some outcomes using functional tests, the sources of impairment (e.g. strength or power of particular joints, imbalances) is often hard to diagnose and difficult to monitor if this changes with exercise prescription. Biomechanical measures can achieve better resolution, but often require extensive setup. However, advances in computer vision now allow complex biomechanical analysis to be undertaken using video (e.g. smartphone), without the need for markers or measures of force. As yet, these technologies have not been evaluated for use during standardised functional tests that may be of benefit to exercise physiologists.

This study is involved as part of an Medical Research Future Fund grant developing biomechanical tools for clinical assessment, primarily for podiatrists and physiotherapists (BioMotionAi – Fusing biomechanics with artificial intelligence to deliver precision clinical care for people with MSK pain).

Research engagement

As outlined in more detail in the next section the student will be involved with conducting a literature review, carrying out lab-based data collection in the gait lab in KG-Q. This will mostly focus on collecting motion capture and force plate data. Data analysis will include assessing validity and reliability.

Outcomes

The aim is to determine the accuracy of estimating biomechanical variables of interest during functional tests (e.g. sit to stand, standing balance) using markerless video technology and comparing the results to a traditional marker-based system and force plate analysis.

Start date

1 November, 2024

End date

1 February, 2025

Location

QUT, Kelvin Grove

Additional information

Students will need to get access to building KG-Q and the gait lab by undergoing initial training.

Contact

Professor Glen Lichtwark  glen.lichtwark@qut.edu.au