JOLO

Project funded by FWO – TBM fund

Background: Persons with degenerative hip and knee problems benefit from physical activity, which is moreover a predictor for symptoms and general health. However, non optimal joint loading may contribute to the onset and progression of degenerative joint disease and artificial implant wear. Therefore it is important to monitor functional status, i.e. the combination of functional movement and joint loading, in order to guide rehabilitation advice and evaluate progress after surgical and rehabilitation interventions.

Study Goal: In this project, the added value of mobile monitoring of joint loading and functionality profiles in subjects with degenerative hip and knee problems prior to and after surgical interventions will be evaluated in the context of optimizing rehabilitation strategies. The challenge in the current project is to quantify the loading profile of patients monitored with portable technology during activities of daily living, independent of a lab-based set-up. These loading profiles, in combination with the newly developed mobile monitoring of functional movement of the patient at home, will provide the patients’ daily joint loading. This project will create a new outcome tool available for thousands of health care practitioners who do not have access to complex gait analysis tools and complex biomechanical analyses.

Study design: Development of a portable and mobile strategy to determine the patients daily joint loading in a personalized way. Use the tailored strategy in patients with degenerative hip and knee disorders in order to optimize the loading profile and functionality during the rehabilitation process.

Mobile monitoring of functional movements of patients at home by the JOLO application (JOint LOading) developed by the project team.

Keywords: degenerative hip & knee disorders – functional status – joint loading profiles – mobile monitoring – rehabilitation – apps and wearable sensors

Partners:

    Hasselt university

• • REVAL
  • MHU

    KU Leuven

• • Human Movement Biomechanics Research Group – kinesiology
  • Science, Engineering and Technology Group – Department of Computer Science

    Ziekenhuis Oost-Limburg – Orthopedics Department