DMFMOD2

Dynamic muscle function monitoring in older adults’ development of a novel wearable device to measure muscle function

Funder: ESRC ISCF Healthy Ageing Catalyst Award

Chief investigator: Dr Annette Pantall

Contact: Dr Annette Pantall

Background

Sarcopenia is an age-related disease characterised by loss of muscle and declined physical performance. These can appear decades before clinical diagnosis.
Currently there is no low-cost, non-invasive reliable method of diagnosing sarcopenia or assessing muscle health.
A graphic of a hand with a data signal and two question marks above it
A graphic of a muscle and a person slumped when walking

Aim

A graphic of two hands holding up a shield which contains an image of a person, a muscle and a low-cost sign 
To develop a low cost, non-invasive wearable device that measures muscle health in older female adults.

Objectives

A graphic of wearable garment prototype, a person and a muscle with sensors
An infographic containing cogs, a muscle with sensors, two hands holding up a heart with a medical cross in it and a computer screen 
Working with a UK company (Kymira), construct a wearable garment prototype, the 'MyoSock' with the electronic system embedded into the textile. Test the 'MyoSock' in 20 healthy older adults over 60 years old.
Develop an electronic circuit incorporating multi-modal sensors and develop algorithms to quantify muscle quantity, quality and function.
A graphic of a wearable garment prototype with an arrow pointing to an MRI scanner 
Validate the findings with MRI of muscles and acquire 'proof of principle' data for future funding for detecting sarcopenia in older adults.

Outcomes

A graphic of an X and Y axis and dots plotted displaying a positive correlation between MRI metrics and Muscle Health Index 
Expected outcomes are that there will be significant correlation between the Muscle Health Index and MRI metrics. Currently data are being processed.