Awarded in 2024
Home Department: Mechanical Engineering
Faculty Advisors: Scott Delp (Bioengineering, Mechanical Engineering), Karen Liu (Computer Science), and John Day (Neurology & Neurological Sciences, Pediatrics – Medical Genetics)

Research Title: Developing in the Wild Motion Capture to Assess Treatment Effectiveness in Charcot-Marie-Tooth Patients

Charcot-Marie-Tooth syndrome (CMT), like many neurological conditions, profoundly impacts an individual's mobility and quality of life. While several assistive devices, such as exoskeletons, seek to restore mobility, their impact on activities of daily living has not been assessed due to a limited ability to measure human motion outside of the lab. Six aims to improve the accuracy of measuring human motion in the wild by embedding biological model constraints in algorithms for wearable sensors. These improved algorithms are then used to identify biomarkers for CMT progression and measure the efficacy of exoskeletons on improving mobility in those with CMT.