Biomedical Engineering

• Project coordination: Inge Holsbeeks, inge.holsbeeks@groupt.be
• Status: IOF Leverage Project (Industrial Research Fund)
• Project partner: K.U.Leuven (Prometheus Division)

Tissue engineering is a high-tech research domain that joins and integrates know-how from biology, medicine and engineering sciences. Tissue engineering allows repairing damaged or defective tissue or reproducing new tissue starting from the healthy cells of the patient himself. This tissue is produced in a lab in a bioreactor which is a setup for growing cells and tissues under strictly controlled conditions. This starts with a porous carrier structure ('scaffold') onto which cells are grown in the presence of the appropriate growing factors and physical stimuli.

Group T researchers participate in translating the fundamental research on skeletal tissue engineering into the clinical practice. The bioreactor technology is essential here. Their work offers solutions that benefit the quality of life of the aging population or of people with functional limitations.

• Project coordination: Luc Janssens, luc.janssens@groupt.be  
• Status: IWT-TBM Project (Applied Biomedical Research)
• Project partners: K.U.Leuven, Universitair Ziekenhuis Koningin Fabiola

This research project seeks to set up a multidisciplinary hard and software platform to evaluate spasticity objectively. To do this, the standard evaluation methods (random-walk analysis, EMG analyses, strength measures, and EMG analysis of muscles) are used and combined into an integrated system that enables the physician to discover the nature and the intensity of the various forms of spasticity. The final goal is the development of a complete system that is ready to use in a clinical environment.

EMG electrodes, a strength platform, reflexive indicators on the lower limbs, and 5 cameras make up the basis for a random-walk analysis system. Afterwards, the images are analyzed and, together with the strength and the electrical signals of the muscles (EMG), the influence of spasticity on the walking pattern is discovered as is the way in which it can be improved.

In this project, Group T is the expert in recording and processing EMG signals.