Project description
Personalised musculoskeletal models for equitable rehabilitation
Musculoskeletal disorders are the leading cause of disability globally. Prevention and treatment require models that consider age and gender differences. Currently, biomechanics often rely on male-based scaling, leading to inaccurate personalised models due to a lack of comprehensive datasets that capture variations across gender, age, and genetics. The ERC-funded Diversity Outside In project aims to develop personalised musculoskeletal models that account for age- and gender-related differences. It will collect in vivo measurements to create models that reflect these variations through a morphometric scaling technique. These will be used in simulations to examine how age and sex influence musculoskeletal loading during movement, helping to design equitable rehabilitation programmes and performance improvement strategies.
Objective
Musculoskeletal disorders, affecting muscles, bones, joints, and associated tissues, are the leading cause of disability worldwide today. To guide professionals in preventing and treating musculoskeletal disorders, musculoskeletal models serve as powerful tools. Given that these disorders present differently between sexes and throughout the lifespan, it is crucial to include model parameters that reflect this diversity. However, while it is widely recognized in medicine and science that women and men are not simply scaled versions of one another, the field of biomechanics still relies on linear scaling of musculoskeletal models based on male bone geometry and mixed-sex muscle parameters. Datasets or models capturing the relationship of model parameters across sex, age, and genetic background are lacking, leading to incorrect personalized models.
I propose to develop an innovative methodology for rapidly generating accurate, personalized musculoskeletal models that account for age and sex-specific variations.
To this end, I will pioneer a highly challenging and unique experimental setup and collect data that spans both demographic factors and multiple levels of model parameters from in-vivo measurements in a population study. With this, I will develop the first musculoskeletal models in which age and sex differences are accurately represented. I propose a morphometric scaling technique, which is a novel approach, integrating full-body shape data with demographic information, to enable rapid and accessible generation of these accurate personalized models. This will set a new standard for both practical applications and research settings. Finally, these models will be used in simulations to explore how age- and sex-related differences impact musculoskeletal loading during movement.
Understanding how age-sex differences affect movement and musculoskeletal loading, will guide the design of equitable rehabilitation, physical labour, prevention, and performance program.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
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CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
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Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.1.1 - European Research Council (ERC)
MAIN PROGRAMME
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Topic(s)
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Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
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Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-ERC - HORIZON ERC Grants
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Call for proposal
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Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) ERC-2025-STG
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
2628 CN DELFT
Netherlands
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