VISE Seminar: Using Human Motion Analysis to Improve Surgical Outcomes: Recent Progress & Future Opportunities, Thursday March 16th, 12:15. SC 5326, Refreshments provided.
Title: Using Human Motion Analysis to Improve Surgical Outcomes: Recent Progress & Future Opportunities
Speaker: Karl E. Zelik, PhD – Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering, & Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
Date: Thursday, March 26th
Time: 12:15-1:10
Place: Stevenson Center 5326
Abstract: Human motion analysis refers to a set of biomechanical measurement techniques that enable us to quantify how people move and understand why they move the way that they do. This approach has been used to investigate musculoskeletal dynamics for a diverse array of individuals (from completely healthy people to those with severe neurological impairments or physical disabilities) and for a broad variety of activities (related to rehabilitation, sport, ergonomics, etc.). These scientific studies have led to marked advances in our understanding of biological movement, and directly contributed to the development of important new devices and interventions. Despite the unique insights derived from human motion analysis and its potential to complement medical care as a diagnostic or assessment tool, these techniques have had difficulty translating into clinical settings. However, one exception is the use of human motion analysis as an objective tool to assist surgical decision-making for pediatric cerebral palsy. The aim of this research presentation is: (1) to review this initial success in using human motion analysis to improve care for children with cerebral palsy, (2) to discuss recent technological/methodological advances in motion analysis which may extend its utility to different medical applications, and (3) to describe future opportunities for using human motion analysis to improve surgical outcomes for additional clinical populations.
Speaker Biography: Dr. Karl E. Zelik is an Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering, and Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation at Vanderbilt University. He is the director of the Biomechanics & Assistive Technology (BAT) laboratory, which performs experimental and computational research on human locomotion by combining techniques from engineering, biomechanics, bio-signal processing and neural control of movement. The goal of the BAT lab is to gain a deeper understanding of neuromechanical mechanisms underlying legged locomotion, and then translate these biological insights into improvements in assistive and rehabilitative technologies, such as lower-limb prostheses. Prior to his arrival at Vanderbilt in 2014, Dr. Zelik completed his B.S. and M.S. degrees in Biomedical Engineering at Washington University in St. Louis (2007), his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Michigan (2012), and a post-doctoral fellowship at the Santa Lucia rehabilitation hospital in Rome, Italy (2014).