Dr Mohammad Al-Amri

Publication

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Research

Virtual rehabilitation and movement science are exciting, technologically advanced and evolving fields that provide ample opportunities to foster my passion for research.  My interests in virtual rehabilitation and movement science research began during my PhD studies, where I designed a virtual rehabilitation system from basic components including software development and a Real-time Treadmill Speed Control Algorithm. This was the first demonstration of the transformation of virtual reality-based rehabilitation from laboratory research into a rehabilitation clinic.

Biofeedback:

Building on the foundations of my PhD research and utilising the strong movement science research environment in Cardiff University, I am investigating important motor control strategies related to musculoskeletal and neurological conditions, with a particular focus on evaluating whether the novel virtual reality based biomechanics can help to ameliorate these conditions. As part of this research, I explored a novel targeted-biofeedback application in a pilot project that showed how targeted-biofeedback motivated subjects to squat by using a biomechanically constrained strategy. I presented this preliminary study at the 10th International Conference on Virtual Rehabilitation, which was awarded the prize of the best poster by the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, National Science Foundation, and International Society for Virtual Rehabilitation. This was also featured on local and national BBC TV programmes :

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-24467185

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-24467186

This application was also explored in healthy participants and patients with knee osteoarthritis as part of ongoing a PhD project. The preliminary results of this work are being presented at the 11th Intl Conf. Disability, Virtual Reality & Associated Technologies, Los Angeles, California, USA. 

Dual-Tasks:

My current research involves the development of a novel inter-disciplinary application based on using combined motor-cognitive tasks to detect subtle impairments in patients following brain injury and to develop physical-biomarkers of cognitive decline. This will help us to develop an understanding of the impact of multi-tasks during physical activities on movement and related brain function in patients with, particularly, dementia and brain injury, which would lead to develop a system to predict those who may develop dementia in early stage.

In a preliminary study, I explored how healthy individuals respond to different presentations of virtual obstacles projected on the screen or the treadmill, which may be related to differences in demand on cognition and attention. Therefore, my initial research in this area involves an exploratory work that explores whether performance of concurrent tasks that challenge two different cognitive domains (working memory and executive function) have an impact on spatiotemporal gait parameters in healthy adult subjects, as assessed using the self-paced treadmill apparatus. At this stage I am considering gait as it is the most common motor functional task that is being clinically used to assess patients’ motor capacity independence, though it is not usually challenged with another concurrent task during clinical assessments. In this exploratory research work I am collaborating with colleagues based at the Institute of Psychological Medicine and Clinical Neurosciences within the School of Medicine and Cardiff and Vale University Health Board.

Postgraduate research projects:

I am interested in discussing the possibility of supervising research projects related to any of my research interest areas: virtual reality applications in rehabilitation including tele-rehabilitation and biofeedback; movement analysis and cognitive in dementia and traumatic brain injury; movement adaptations to slope walking; and clinical applications of related integrated technology for assessment and intervention.

If you are interested in applying for a PhD, or for further information regarding my postgraduate research, please contact me directly (contact details available on the 'Overview' page), or submit a formal application.

Research Grants:

• 2021: The Welsh European Funding Office, Development of a Physiotherapy Intelligent Virtual Reality System, (Involvement: Principal Investigator (PI)).
• 2021: The Welsh European Funding Office, Personalisation of Rehabilitation for Body Motion Related Injuries Through Wearable Electronics, (Involvement: PI).
• 2020: Interreg V A France (Channel) England, Early Warning Wearable Device (EWWD) Project: An Innovative Remote Monitoring Solution That Supports Patients with Musculoskeletal Disorders and Diabetes, Whilst Creating Efficiencies in Clinical Management of Disorders, (Involvement: Co-PI).
• 2020: Welsh Government, Clinical acceptance of technology in remote rehabilitation assessment: addressing urgent COVID challenges to drive future technology transfer, (Involvement: Member of the steering group).
• 2020: Medical Research Council, Clinical acceptance of technology in remote rehabilitation assessment: Addressing urgent COVID challenges to drive future technology transfer, (Involvement: Member of the steering group).
• 2020: Institutional Strategic Support Welcome Trust Mobility and Skills research award, Usability and acceptability of a portable virtual reality toolkit for people with knee pain, (Involvement: PI).
• 2019: Cardiff Institute of Tissue Engineering and Repair Seedcorn award, “Development of a Portable Virtual Reality Physiotherapy Game for Knee Rehabilitation”, (Involvement: PI).
• 2018: Institutional Strategic Support Fund Welcome Trust Public Engagement Proof-of-Concept award, “Stakeholder evaluation of a sensor-based movement toolkit intervention for physiotherapy of knee conditions: an all Wales approach”, (Involvement: PI).
• 2018: Research capacity building collaboration Wales, “The patient experience of a biomechanically informed movement feedback approach to physiotherapy using wearable sensor technology”, (Involvement: Collaborator).
• 2018: Arthritis Research UK, ARUK Biomechanics and Bioengineering Centre, (Involvement: Collaborator).
• 2017: HCARE Strategic Development Fund, “Wearable Technology”, (Involvement: PI).
• 2017: Cardiff Undergraduate Research Opportunities, “Evaluation of Feasibility of the Wearable Motion Sensors Technology for Physiotherapy”, (Involvement: PI).
• 2016: Cardiff Undergraduate Research Opportunities Fund, “Effects of cognitively-engaging self-paced virtual reality treadmill on gait performance”, (Involvement: PI).
• 2015: Support to Research and Technological Development & Innovation initiatives and Strategies Fund (European Union research funding scheme) in Jordan, “Virtual Reality Based Motor Control Learning for People with Multiple Sclerosis: A Pilot Study”,  (Involvement: was co-applicant).
• 2015: Cardiff Institute of Tissue Engineering and Repair undergraduate student summer placement fund, “Evaluation of Feasibility of the Microsoft Kinect sensor for rehabilitation”,  (Involvement: PI).
• 2014: Children & Young People's Research Network, “Virtual Rehabilitation for Children with cerebral Palsy”,  (Involvement: PI).
• 2014: Cardiff Undergraduate Research Opportunities, “See How You Move”, (Involvement: co-applicant).

Teaching

Current Teaching Profile:

• Applied technology in clinical human movement analysis (CPD course).
• HC1119 – Physiotherapy Theory, Physical Activity and Exercise (undergraduate level).
• HC3118 – Research 2 (undergraduate level).
• HCT117 - Physiotherapy Empirical Dissertation (MSc level)
• HC2218 - Developing Professional Practice and Research (undergraduate level).

Previous Teaching Profile:

• HCT226 - Clinical Kinaesiology and Tissue Pathology (MSc level)
• HCT118- Research methods (MSc level)
• ENGM194- Rehabilitation Engineering module (MSc level).

Project Supervision: I supervise MSc students on the dissertations module:

• Current MSc projects:
  • Andrew McCluskey: Using a Virtual Reality Environment to Assess Road Crossing Safety and Self-Evaluation of Performance for those with Traumatic Brain Injury: A Series Case Study
  • Manali Kulkarni: Is the Movement Analysis Assessment Based in Laboratory Settings Comparable to the Assessment Outside the Laboratory Setting?
  • Mehareen Nishandar: Difference Between the Impact of Immersive and Non-Immersive Virtual Reality-Based Rehabilitation Systems on Functional Outcomes
  • Yi-An Chen: The Impact of Virtual Reality-Based Balance Exercise for People with Knee Pain
  • Li Qiao: Effects of Virtual Reality on Gait Analysis on Self-Paced Treadmill.
  • Abdulaziz Nafea: Estimated Lower Limbs Muscles Activity During Incline Self-Paced Treadmill
  • Danyang Chen: Effects of Insoles on the Variability of Spatial-Temporal and ROM During Self-Paced Treadmill
  • Xinyi Zhou: User Agreement on Reporting Movement Compensation Strategies During Walking, Squatting, Stair Climbing and Jumping Using a Standardised Reporting Template.

• Past MSc projects:
  • Rawan Al Juaid: Does Prior-Experienced Dual-Task Walking Affect the Symmetry of the Ground Reaction Forces and Walking Speed of Able-Bodied Male Adults?
  • Palida Techakhot: A study to evaluate centre of mass and pelvis movement while complete a virtual rehabilitation game when controlled using a few markers mimicking sensor compared to the pelvis segment markers set
  • Alhanouf Almutairi: Comparing the Lower Limb Symmetry Index Between Healthy Subjects and ACLR Patients Throughout the Movement Cycle of Double Leg Squat in the Sagittal Plane Using Inertial Measurement Units (IMU)
  • Ahmed Alrehaili: The Effect of Slope Walking on the Spatiotemporal Parameters and Gait Variability of Healthy Young Adults Using the Gait Real-Time Analysis Interactive Lab System
  • Chenmiao Lu: Effects of Self-Paced Incline Treadmill Walking On Gait Stability Ratio and Lower Limb Muscles Activation Level in Healthy Subjects
  • Turki Alsaedi: Concurrent Validity and Interrater Reliability of Avatar Recording in Scoring the Landing Error Scoring System (LESS) to Assess Jump-Landing Movement Patterns: An Approach to Physiotherapy Practice.
  • Alaa Alqurafi: The Effect of a Cognitive Dual Task on the Dynamic Balance of Healthy Young Adults: An experimental Study
  • Yi Wan: The Effect of Visual Feedback On Performance of the Star Excursion Balance Test
  • Jianqiao Wang: Effects of Sloped Surface On Lower-Extremity Muscle Activity During Double-Leg Squat
  • Shaima Aljahdali: The Effect of Off-The-Shelf Shock-Absorbing Insoles On Knee Biomechanics During Walking in Healthy Subjects: An Implication for Knee Osteoarthritis
  • Hilal Al Balushi: The Effect of Working Memory Task On Kinematics and Kinetics Gait Parameters in Healthy Adults.
  • Abdulrhman Mashabi: The Effect of an Augmented Cognitive Inhibition Task On Spatial-Temporal Gait Parameters in Healthy Adults
  • Maria Hirayama: The Effect of Sloped Surfaces on Motor Control of Gait in Healthy Young Adults Using The GRAIL System.
  • Muhamad Abdul Latir: The Dual Task Effect of Conversating While Walking On Gait Spatiotemporal Parameters in Healthy Young Adults.
  • Abdulmajed Alzaid: The Differences in Knee Kinetic and Kinematic Movement Patterns between Performing a Lunge Exercise and a Lunge Whilst Performing a Dual-Task.
  • Nodoka Kimura: The Effect of Dual-Task on Walking in Young Adults.
  • Omowumi Dairo: Biomechanical Assessment of Walking in Healthy Adults during Obstacles Negotiation.

Biography

Honours and awards

• Prize of Best Poster presentation, 10^th International Conference on Virtual Rehabilitation (2013).
• Associate Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy (2010)
• PhD Studentship from University of Surrey (2008 to 2012).
• Royal Hashemite Undergraduate Studentship (2000 to 2005).

Professional memberships

• International Society for Virtual Rehabilitation (ISVR).
• The Institute of Physics and Engineering in Medicine (IPEM).
• The Cardiff Institute for Tissue Engineering and Repair (CITER).
• Welsh Arthritis Research Network (WARN).
• Jordan Engineering Association (JEA).

Committees and reviewing

• Academic Researcher Representative of the School of Healthcare in the Cardiff University Research Staff Association.
• HCARE Athena Swan Sub Committee.

Supervisions

I am interested in discussing the possibility of supervising research projects related to any of my research interest areas: virtual reality applications in rehabilitation including tele-rehabilitation and biofeedback; movement analysis and cognitive in dementia and traumatic brain injury; movement adaptations to slope walking; and clinical applications of related integrated technology for assessment and intervention.

If you are interested in applying for a PhD, or for further information regarding my postgraduate research, please contact me directly (contact details available on the 'Overview' page), or submit a formal application here.

Current supervision

Christian Lambert

Kevin Nicholas

Alhanouf Almutairi

Mohammad Subahi

Muath Hassan Y Almushari Al Mushari

Duaa Sabbagh

Richard Coates

Nawaf Almousara