Andreas Hein

Carl von Ossietzky Universität Oldenburg · Department of Health Services Research

Background Gait feature analysis plays an important role in diagnosing and monitoring diseases that compromise motor function. This article presents the results of a study, which was aimed at assessing the accuracy and precision of computer-aided gait feature analysis performed with a system based on Microsoft® Azure™ Kinect™ Cameras (AzureKinect)....

Purpose Physically demanding activities at the nursing bed are a key factor in the overwork of nursing staff and play a major role in the development of musculoskeletal disorders. The heavy back strain plays a significant part in this. Technical aids such as robotic assistance systems have the potential to minimize this overload during nursing acti...

Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) has a significant impact on the daily lives of those affected. This concept paper presents a project that aims at addressing MDD challenges through innovative therapy systems. The project consists of two use cases: a multimodal neurofeedback (NFB) therapy and an AI-based virtual therapy assistant (VTA). The multimoda...

Robotic manipulators can interact with large, heavy objects through whole-arm manipulation. Combined with direct physical interaction between humans and robots, the patient can be anchored in care. However, the complexity of this scenario requires control by a caregiver. We are investigating how such a complex form of manipulation can be controlled...

People with disabilities are severely underrepresented in the open labor market. Yet, pursuing a job has a positive impact in many aspects of life. This paper presents a possible approach to improve inclusion by including a robotic manipulator into context-aware Assistive Systems. This expands the assistance possibilities tremendously by adding ges...

Introduction: Falls and gait disorders often result in hospitalization and immobilization. Near-falls may be one of the earliest signs of increased fall risk. In the literature, several sensor positions are used for fall detection, but few studies include the head as a sensor position. Hearables and hearing aids are increasingly equipped with inert...

Background: For older adults (≥ 70 years), it is often challenging to maintain new nutrition and physical activity behaviours learned in rehabilitation. To minimize the risk of negative health consequences when returning home, an e-coach can be helpful. Aligning the program with an established concept such as the Transtheoretical Model of Behaviou...

Functional decline in older adults can lead to an increased need of assistance or even moving to a nursing home. Utilising home automation, power and wearable sensors, our system continuously keeps track of the functional status of older adults through monitoring their daily life and allows health care professionals to create individualised rehabil...

Introduction Falls are one of the most common causes of emergency hospital visits in older people. Early recognition of an increased fall risk, which can be indicated by the occurrence of near-falls, is important to initiate interventions. Methods In a study with 87 subjects we simulated near-fall events on a perturbation treadmill and recorded th...

The functional performance of nurses in STS transitions is decreased with physical deteriorations, resulting in lower STS repetitions in 60 s, a slower pace, and longer cycle duration. In this context, movement strategies were adapted for balance control, altering the velocity and acceleration, knee extensor, knee flexor, and lumbar erector muscle...

Current ethical debates on the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in healthcare treat AI as a product of technology in three ways. First, by assessing risks and potential benefits of currently developed AI-enabled products with ethical checklists; second, by proposing ex ante lists of ethical values seen as relevant for the design and development...

Background: Although digital approaches for disease prevention in older people have a high potential and are being used more often, there are still inequalities in access and use. One reason could be that in technology development future users are insufficiently taken into consideration, or involved very late in the process using inappropriate met...

Current ethical debates on the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in health care treat AI as a product of technology in three ways: First, by assessing risks and potential benefits of currently developed AI-enabled products with ethical checklists; second, by proposing ex ante lists of ethical values seen as relevant for the design and development...

Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) is an optical non-invasive neuroimaging technique that allows participants to move relatively freely. However, head movements frequently cause optode movements relative to the head, leading to motion artifacts (MA) in the measured signal. Here, we propose an improved algorithmic approach for MA correcti...

In this paper the APA, an App for Posture Analysis, that incorporates the OWAS method (Ovako Working Posture Analysis System) for assessing potential harmful postures of physically hard working employees, is presented and evaluated. The app is intended as a tool for occupational safety experts in assessing the individual postures of workers to iden...

Muscle activation and movements performed during occupational work can lead to musculoskeletal disorders, one of the nursing profession's most significant health hazards. However, physical activity like exercise training tailored to the exposure and physical ability offers health prevention and rehabilitation. Professional nursing associations have...

Animal studies show that long-lasting stretching training can lead to significant hypertrophy and increases in maximal strength. Accordingly, previous human studies found significant improvements in maximal voluntary contraction (MVC), flexibility and muscle thickness (MTh) using constant angle long-lasting stretching. It was hypothesized that long...

The Azure Kinect DK is an RGB-D-camera popular in research and studies with humans. For good scientific practice, it is relevant that Azure Kinect yields consistent and reproducible results. We noticed the yielded results were inconsistent. Therefore, we examined 100 body tracking runs per processing mode provided by the Azure Kinect Body Tracking...

Musculoskeletal Disorders (MSD) are one of the most significant health hazards for nurses causing a high rate of sick leave and exit the profession before the retirement age. In this context, physically heavy tasks like lifting patients frequently in awkward stooped or forced postures lead to constant high physical stresses and thus to MSD and phys...

Introduction An increasing number of studies investigate the influence of training interventions on muscle thickness (MT) by using ultrasonography. Ultrasonography is stated as a reliable and valid tool to examine muscle morphology. Researches investigating the effects of a training intervention lasting a few weeks need a very precise measurement s...

In nursing care, physical overload is an important issue that plays a main role in adding to the number of sick days or even causing staff to withdrawal from the profession. In addition to existing physical aids, robotics in particular has the potential to provide general physical relief during extremely stressful care activities provided at the be...

BACKGROUND For older adults (≥70 years), maintaining newly acquired nutrition and physical activity behaviors after rehabilitation to minimize the risk for negative health consequences is often challenging. To support this vulnerable target group, an e-coach could be helpful. Aligning the program with an established concept such as the Transtheoret...

Almost all Western societies are facing the challenge that their population structure is changing very dynamically. Already in 2019, ten countries had a population share of at least 20 percent in the age group of 64 years and older. Today’s society aims to improve population health and help older people live active and independent lives by developi...

Background Despite advancing automation, employees in many industrial and service occupations still have to perform physically intensive work that may have negative effects on the health of the musculoskeletal system. For targeted preventive measures, precise knowledge of the work postures and movements performed is necessary. Methods Prototype sm...

Background When older adults fall below the thresholds of functional geriatric assessment (FGA), they may already be at risk of mobility impairment. A reduction in (jumping) power could be an indication of functional decline, one of the main risk factors for falls. Objective This paper explores whether six-month delta (∆) values of muscle power ca...

Many physically demanding tasks require the helpof a second person to avoid the otherwise harmful effects ofmusculoskeletal disorders when performing the task alone. Theworkforce in many domains, such as nursing care, is rapidlydeclining. Furthermore, complex repositioning tasks duringpatient care make it all the more difficult to find a simplesolu...

Background: The development of immunotherapy in the treatment for lung cancer has changed the outlook for both patients and health care practitioners. However, reporting and management of side effects are crucial to ensure effectiveness and safety of treatment. The aim of this study was to learn about the subjective experiences of patients with lu...

Background Falls are a leading cause for emergency department (ED) visits in older adults. As a fall is associated with a high risk of functional decline and further falls and many falls do not receive medical attention, the ED is ideal to initiate secondary prevention, an opportunity generally not taken. Data on trajectories to identify patients,...

Caregivers experience high musculoskeletal loads during their daily work, which leads to back complaints and a high rate of absenteeism at work. This reinforces the already existing discrepancy between the supply and demand of caregivers. Ergonomically correct working can significantly reduce musculoskeletal load. Therefore, we developed a system t...

Zusammenfassung Ziel Der Beitrag nimmt die Situation der hausärztlichen Medizin im digitalen Zeitalter in den Blick, um künftige Entwicklungsperspektiven zu erörtern und Handlungsmöglichkeiten aufzuzeigen. Methodik Es wurde ein strukturierter Verständigungsprozess unter Einbeziehung relevanter Stakeholder-Perspektiven durchgeführt, der sich konzept...

Are there differences in the quality of health care between rural and urban regions? To answer this question, a differentiation of the location of health care facilities is essential. A large part of the relevant literature uses the spatial typology of the Federal Institute for Research on Building, Urban Affairs and Spatial Development (BBSR) for...

Manual patient handling is one of the most significant challenges leading to musculoskeletal burden among healthcare workers. Traditional working techniques could be enhanced by innovations that can be individually adapted to the physical capacity of nurses. We evaluated the use of a robotic system providing physical relief by collaboratively assis...

Abnormal behaviour can be an indicator for a medical condition in older adults. Our novel unsupervised statistical concept drift detection approach uses variational autoencoders for estimating the parameters for a statistical hypothesis test for abnormal days. As feature, the Kullback–Leibler divergence of activity probability maps derived from pow...

As Team 2A&B Core, we contributed a K-nearest neighbour approach for classifying ten different activities for the Bento Packing Activity Recognition Challenge. We used hand-engineered features from motion capture data. Before classifying the data, we scaled it and applied a principal component analysis. We used the K-nearest neighbour classifier to...

An increase of the aging population with a decrease in the available nursing staff has been seen in recent years. These two factors combined present a challenging problem for the future and has since become a political issue in many countries. Technological advances in robotics have made its use possible in new application fields like care and thus...

Background Maintaining nutrition and exercise strategies after rehabilitation can be difficult for older people with malnutrition or limited mobility. A technical assistance system such as an e-coach could help to positively influence changes in dietary and exercise behavior and contribute to a sustainable improvement in one’s nutrition and mobilit...

Mobility is one of the key performance indicators of the health condition of older adults. One important parameter is the gait speed. The mobility is usually assessed under the supervision of a professional by standardised geriatric assessments. Using sensors in smart home environments for continuous monitoring of the gait speed enables physicians...

Background: Despite advancing automation, employees in many industrial and service occupations still have to perform physically intensive work that may have negative effects on the health of the musculoskeletal system. For targeted preventive measures, precise knowledge of the work postures and movements performed is necessary. Methods: Prototype s...

Comprehensive measurements are needed in older populations to detect physical changes, initiate prompt interventions, and prevent functional decline. While established instruments such as the Timed Up and Go (TUG) and 5 Times Chair Rise Test (5CRT) require trained clinicians to assess corresponding functional parameters, the unsupervised screening...

Due to the physical, psychological, or socioeconomic changes that accompany aging, many people will be affected by geriatric frailty syndrome, which can lead to multimorbidity and premature death. Nutrition counseling is often used to prevent and intervene in frailty syndrome, especially in geriatric rehabilitation. To this end, the consumption beh...

The OTAGO exercise programme is effective in decreasing the risk for falls of older adults. This research investigated if there is an indication that the OTAGO exercise programme has a positive effect on the capacity and as well as on the performance in mobility. We used the data of the 10-months observational OTAGO pilot study with 15 (m = 1, f =...

Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is one of the most critical emergency interventions for sudden cardiac arrest. In this paper, a robust sinusoidal model-fitting method based on a Evolution Strategy inspired algorithm for CPR quality parameters – naming chest compression frequency and depth – as measured by an inertial measurement unit (IMU) atta...

Background During geriatric rehabilitation, attempts are made to increase the patients’ health and functional capacity. In order to maintain these improvements in the medium- and long-term, behavioural changes regarding mobility and nutrition are also targeted, but these are often not sustainable. International studies show positive effects on the...

With increasing age, walking becomes a main functional ability to participate in activities of daily living and supports independence and mobility. Frailty in older, multimorbid patients has a negative impact on physical activity and may reduce the personal activity space (AS). In this pilot study, GPS data were used to identify walking tracks to d...

Die Digitalisierung ist einer der wichtigsten Treiber für die (Weiter-)Entwicklung personenbezogener Dienstleistungen. Gleichzeitig birgt die Arbeit mit und an Menschen jedoch Besonderheiten, die sich Digitalisierungsbestrebungen teilweise widersetzen. Daraus ergibt sich ein erheblicher Gestaltungsbedarf. Der Artikel beschreibt am Beispiel der Ernä...

Medical Apps are increasingly gaining in importance. But comprehensive testing of the app is difficult and there is no single method. For example, compliance has been ignored so far in most cases. A general remote method has been developed to test the compliance behavior when using medical apps, as well as to take them into account in later treatme...

Hintergrund/Ziele: Im Alter kann ein funktioneller Abbau zu einem Mobilitätsverlust führen, der durch geeignete Assessmentverfahren frühzeitig aufgedeckt werden kann. Es wurde eine Assessmenttechnologie (Messbox) entwickelt und an zwei Standorten (Universität, Sportverein) über sechs Monate getestet. Die Teilnehmenden wurden bei der Durchführung (T...

Die Implementierung innovativer technischer Anwendungen in die Pflege erfordert die systematische Einbeziehung ethischer, rechtlicher und sozialer Implikationen (ELSI). Dies macht es einerseits notwendig, die verschiedenen Interessen und Perspektiven im Feld der Pflege ernst zu nehmen und institutionell-normative Rahmenbedingungen zu reflektieren,...

Robotic assistance in nursing is becoming increasingly important due to labor shortage and novel capabilities in hard- and software. In nursing, patients often need to be manipulated which requires force distribution beyond the scope of traditional end effectors. This can be solved with whole arm manipulation (WAM). Unfortunately, commanding WAM co...

Manual patient handling leads to high mechanical stress in the lower back and musculoskeletal disorders of caregivers. These are the high-risk factors for lumbar complaints or disorders and the high amount of sick-leaves and days of inability to work in the profession of elderly care. The scientific focus so far, in addition to the relief of caregi...

BACKGROUND Maintaining nutrition and exercise strategies after rehabilitation can be difficult for older people with malnutrition or limited mobility. A technical assistance system such as an e-coach could help to positively influence changes in dietary and exercise behavior and contribute to a sustainable improvement in one’s nutrition and mobilit...

The obesity pandemic has reached old age but the effect of obesity on functional recovery in geriatric rehabilitation patients has not been investigated to date. In this prospective cohort study, patients admitted into geriatric rehabilitation were consecutively included between September 2015 and September 2016, aged ≥ 70 years. Individual activit...

Dynamic muscle stability in functional tasks like Sit-to-Stand/ Stand-to-Sit performances requires muscle co-activation of knee extensors and flexors. For a comparison of a geriatric patient and a healthy young subject, biomechanical and neurophysiological STS parameters were analyzed to determine muscle co-activation. Modified STS movement strateg...

Malnutrition is a well-known risk factor for deteriorated physical function, disability and loss in independence in older adults. An unintended loss in body weight of more than 5% in 3 months is one indicator for malnutrition. In this study we examined the relationship between meal preparation time, hand grip strength, and body weight in order to m...

The Ovako Working posture Assessment System (OWAS) is a commonly used observational assessment method for determining the risk of work-related musculoskeletal disorders. OWAS claims to be suitable in the application for untrained persons but there is not enough evidence for this assumption. In this paper, inter-rater (inter-observer) reliability (a...

Background and objectiveRestrictions in public life during the COVID-19 pandemic mainly addressed the safety of high-risk older multimorbid patients to protect them from infection. Nevertheless, detrimental aspects of the lockdown for older people are a reduction in physical activity and limited access to physiotherapy, which are likely to have a n...

A continuous monitoring of the physical strength and mobility of elderly people is important for maintaining their health and treating diseases at an early stage. However, frequent screenings by physicians are exceeding the logistic capacities. An alternate approach is the automatic and unobtrusive collection of functional measures by ambient senso...

peer reviewed; in: RaumPlanung - Zeitschrift für räumliche Planung und Forschung, 211 / 2-2021, p. 27-32 [english below] Planerische Fragestellungen mit Bevölkerungsbezug profitieren von kleinräumigen demographischen Daten. Bevölkerungsdaten in Rasterzellen gewinnen dabei an Bedeutung, sind aber anfällig für Einflüsse durch statistische Geheimhalt...