Rolf Moe-Nilssen
Position
Emeritus, Professor Emeritus
Research
Field of interest
Based upon current theories of motor behaviour where balance is believed to be task and context specific, I have developed a methodology based upon body fixed kinematic sensors for assessing balance during standing and walking. An advantage of wearable technology over traditional laboratory equipment, is its portability which allows a variety of environmental conditions, including clinical and everyday settings, complying with important ecological validity requirements. A number of objections have been raised against kinematic sensors in the past, the most important being drift and an uncontrollable gravity component caused by a tilted device. This is of relevance for our methodology, which is based upon measurements from reference points over the lumbar spine of a moving subject. We have solved these problems using recent gyro enhanced sensors and tailor-made software, and have demonstrated how these procedures dramatically improve validity of measures used to assess locomotor control.
Most parameters derived from clinical gait analysis are speed dependent. This includes commonly reported measures like step length, cadence (step frequency), and also movements of the trunk. Nevertheless, a common procedure has been to test subjects walking at their preferred speed only, which may vary considerably between tests and subjects. I have suggested an alternative procedure, where each subject walk at different self-administered speeds, while gait parameters are estimated at a standardized common speed. I have demonstrated how this procedure may disclose important aspects of locomotor control which may otherwise be camouflaged. Recent and ongoing research includes studies of variability as noise and as adaptability. By properly interpreting variability in locomotor control, we hope to further improve the clinical usefulness of gait analysis.
This approach has allowed me to initiate and to participate in joint ventures across professional and geographical boundaries, including a diversity of scientific approaches and research questions.
EU research
The PreventIT Study, Advisory Board (2016-2018)
Prevention of Falls Network Europe (Profane), partner and member of stearing group (2003-2008)
Invited lectures at international conferences
“Gait assessment in clinical practice and clinical trials”, 3rd International Congress on Gait and Mental Function, Washington DC, 2010
“Velocity based normalization of spatio-temporal gait parameters”, Gait analysis meeting, Basel 2009
"Control of balance and gait", Nordic Physiotherapy Congress, Oslo 2009
“Physiology and pathophysiology of gait and balance”, Berzelius symposium, The Swedish Society of Medicine and The Royal Society of Medicine, Stockholm 2008
"Variability in motor function. Adaptability, impaired control - or simply: measurement error?" 5th Motor Control Conference, Sofia 2007
"The science behind measuring postural stability and gait", 8th Int. Conference on Falls and Postural Stability, British Geriatrics Society, Birmingham 2007
"Gait variability in elderly persons", 5th World Congress of Biomechanics, Munich 2006
Referee work
Advances in Physiotherapy
American Journal of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation
Brain
Clinical Rehabilitation
European Journal of Neurology
Experimental Brain Research
Gait & Posture
International Journal of Sports Medicine
Journal of Biomechanics
Journal of NeuroEngineering and Rehabilitation
Journal of Rehabilitation Medicine
Medical & Biological Engineering & Computing
Medical Engineering & Physics
Perceptual and Motor Skills
Physiotherapy Theory and Praxis
Research in Sports Medicine
Transactions on Neural Systems & Rehabilitation Engineering
Membership
Honorary member, International Society of Posture and Gait Research
Norwegian Physiotherapist Association
European Society of Movement Analysis in Adults and Children
Royal Statistical Society
International Society for the Measurement of Physical Behaviour
Mobility and Exercise in the Elderly
Assessment of PhD dissertations
Umeå University, Sweden 2021
University of Stavanger, Norway 2016
Umeå University, Sweden 2016
University of Southern Denmark 2015
University of Oslo, Norway 2014
Free University, Amsterdam, the Netherlands 2014
University of Gothenburg, Sweden 2013
University of Southern Denmark 2013
Umeå University, Sweden 2013
Aarhus University, Denmark 2011
Aarhus University, Denmark 2010
University of London, UK 2008
Aalborg University, Denmark 2007
University of London, UK 2006
Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden 2006
École Polytechniique Fédérale de Lausanne, Switzerland 2005
Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden 2004
University of Kuopio, Finland 2004
Teaching
Topics
Design and Analysis of Method Evaluation Studies
Design and Analysis of Clinical Trials
Human Movement Science
Balance control in Standing and Walking
Gait analysis
Biomechanics
Body worn sensors for measurement of gait and physical activity
Statistics
Research methods
Recent activities
Chief lecturer, PhD-courses on method evaluation and reliability statistics, Norwegian School of Sport Sciences, Umeå University, University of Oslo, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, University of Bergen
Lecturer, PhD-courses on clincal trials, Lund University, University of Oslo, and University of Bergen
Lecturer, Summer School on Advanced technologies for neuro-motor assessment and rehabilitation, Post doctoral/PhD course, University of Bologna
Initiator and chief lecturer, International research workshops on gait analysis and locomotor control, University of Bergen
Publications
Projects
Adjusting reference gait data for body size
Assessing balance and gait in real-world environments