February 8th 2018, 13:00, Room F105/F106, School of Engineering

Speaker: Rita Stagni is Associate Professor of Biomechanics at the Alma Mater Studiorum – University of Bologna. Her scientific production presently includes more than 200 publications in peer-reviewed journals and international conference proceedings. Her research activity, in cooperation with national and international scientific institutions, mainly concerns the application of measurement, modelling and control methods in movement analysis, in both physiological and assisted conditions. Recent research focused on the accurate real-time assessment of motor stability and balance in elderly and pathological subjects, with a particular reference, in the last years, to the maturation of motor control in children. She was member of the Board of the Italian Society of Gait Analysis in Clinic, 3DAHM group of the International Society of Biomechanics, member of the European Society of Biomechanics, and participated in national and international research projects as coordinator for UNIBO

Aim: As one of the so-called geriatric giants is considered, it is evident that falls represent a heavy economic and social burden, leading to a significant reduction in the quality of life in the elderly and/or pathological population. Therefore, it is easy to understand the great interest in the identification of effective methods to identify those at risk and to develop effective clinical / rehabilitative interventions aiming to reduce this risk. Unfortunately, however, extensive research and literature demonstrate how far from simple is this task; based on epidemiological evaluations, the risk of falling has a multifactorial nature, is affected by specific clinical conditions as well as by environmental conditions, potentially differing significantly from one subject to another. Both postural and motor stability are the result of the concurrent action of various functional resources.

In recent years, an increasing attention has been paid to multifactorial assessment, aiming at personalised intervention for the prevention of falls and injuries in the elderly subjects. Moreover, efficient wearable sensors have become available, allowing a constant and non-invasive monitoring of the movement during the activities of daily life. This resulted in the development and proposal of a large number of methods for the quantification of motor stability and the estimation of fall risk. The aim of this lesson is to provide an overview and a critical review of the quantitative tools proposed in recent years and based on the use of magneto-inertial sensors to summarise the advantages and the main limitations for the proper use of these instruments.

February 6^th 2018, 13:00, Room A401, School of Engineering

Speaker: Nicolas Pallikarakis is Emeritus Professor of the University of Patras, Greece; Founder of the Institute of Biomedical Technology (INBIT), Patras, Greece, in 1991; Past Chairman of the HTA Division of the IFMBE; Founding member of EAMBES Fellows; and Elected member of the International Academy of Medical and Biological Engineering (IAMBE). He is one of the creators of the international M.Sc. program in Biomedical Engineering (BME) established in 1989 at the University of Patras, Greece. Prof Pallikarakis has more than 130 publications in international scientific journals and conference proceedings. Coordinator of more than 30 European and Greek R&D projects. In the domain of BME education, he coordinated a number of Erasmus/Tempus projects. The two more recent Curricula Reformation and Harmonisation in the field of Biomedical Engineering (CRH BME) and the European Neighbouring Area (ENA) countries that created four new BME Joint programs in Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia and Armenia, based on the core curriculum proposed by the previously mentioned CRH BME project. Last January he has been invited to represent Greece in the Erasmus+ 30 year’s celebration launching event in Brussels and in June 2017, he received one of the 33 Awards given to Erasmus+ participants in a special ceremony at the EU Parliament in Strasburg.

Aim: In his talk, Nicolas Pallikarakis will give a thirty-year overview of the evolution in the domain of Medical Technology and its relationship with Biomedical Engineering Education. He will present the case of a unique European collaboration program in BME and will elaborate the direct and indirect benefits of such a joint effort.

Speaker: Dr Saverio Stranges, Scientific Director of the Department of Population Health at the Luxembourg Institute of Health. Dr Stranges has been appointed as the Scientific Director of the Department of Population Health at the Luxembourg Institute of Health. Previously, he was an Associate Clinical Professor of Cardiovascular Epidemiology in the Division of Health Sciences at the University of Warwick Medical School, where he has been for about nine years (2006-2015). Within Warwick University, he was also Director of the Academic Clinical Training in Public Health, as well as Honorary Consultant Physician in Public Health Medicine at the University Hospital of Coventry & Warwickshire, working in the Lipid & Coronary Prevention Clinics.

Aim: this will be an interactive session addressing the main criteria and issues in inferring causal associations in epidemiological studies.