Dylan PowellNorthumbria University · School of Computing, Engineering and Information Sciences
Dylan Powell
PhD Candidate. MSc | BSc | MCSP | HCPC
About
42
Publications
2,088
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43
Citations
Citations since 2017
Introduction
Dylan Powell is a Physiotherapist with a strong research interest in the application of digital approaches in healthcare assessment. The associated challenges of participating in Rugby Union including rehabilitation and recovery from injuries, has been a firm driver and motivating factor in qualifying as a physiotherapist and pursuing a PhD in Sports Related Concussion at Northumbria University.
Twitter : @PhysioPowell
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dylan-powell
Skills and Expertise
Education
October 2019 - October 2022
Field of study
- Wearables as objective tools in sport-related concussion: A protocol for more informed player management
September 2016 - September 2018
September 2013 - September 2016
Publications
Publications (42)
The prevalence of concussion in rugby is growing, but methods to facilitate improved player welfare are lacking. This project will determine the effectiveness of using wearable derived gait and balance data gathered during free-living as an objective means to better inform return-to-play protocols.
The Sports Concussion Assessment Tool (SCAT) is a pen and paper-based evaluation tool for use by healthcare professionals in acute evaluation of suspected concussion. Here we present a feasibility study towards instrumented SCAT (iSCAT). Traditionally, a healthcare professional counts the number of errors according to SCAT marking criteria matrix....
Sports-Related Concussion (SRC) is defined as a mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) leading to complex impairment(s) in neurological function with many seemingly hidden or difficult to measure impairments that can deteriorate rapidly without any prior indication. Growing numbers of SRCs in professional and amateur contact sports has prompted closer...
Instrumented balance and gait test are an important component of physical capability assessment in clinical examinations. This study provides insight to a new generation Open Movement inertial-based wearable (AX6, Axivity, UK) compared to a previously validated reference (AX3). The AX6 was assessed for its ability to quantify a battery of tasks tha...
Background: Turning is a complex measure of gait that accounts for over 50% of daily steps. Traditionally, turning has been measured in a research grade la-boratory setting, however, there is demand for a low-cost and portable solution to measure turning using wearable technology. This study aimed to determine the suitability of a low-cost inertial...
Exploring the practicality and feasibility of multimodal Sports Related Concussion (SRC) assessments compared to the reference standard (SCAT5) in university athletes.
Significant challenges remain in the monitoring and assessment of suspected Sports Related Concussion (SRC). The most commonly used mechanism within amateur sports, is the 5th versi...
Introduction: Following mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI), patients are often advised to restrict physical activity until full symptom resolution followed by gradual return to activity. However, extended rest periods may prolong recovery and contribute to persistent symptoms. Emerging evidence suggests early active rehabilitation that increases he...
Mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI or concussion) is receiving increased attention due to the incidence in contact sports and limitations with subjective (pen and paper) diagnostic approaches. If an mTBI is undiagnosed and the athlete prematurely returns to play, it can result in serious short-term and/or long-term health complications. This
demonst...
Background
Falls in older adults are a critical public health problem. As a means to assess fall risks, free-living digital biomarkers (FLDBs), including spatiotemporal gait measures, drawn from wearable inertial measurement unit (IMU) data have been investigated to identify those at high risk. Although gait-related FLDBs can be impacted by intrins...
BACKGROUND & AIM: Sports-Related Concussion (SRC) encompasses symptom, visual,
cognitive and motor impairments, where accurate and timely recognition is crucial to reduce
incidences of misdiagnosis, which can increase morbidity risk [1]. Yet current non-digital
tools, e.g Sports Concussion Assessment Tool (SCAT5) criteria [2] relies on symptom
reso...
Background: Physical function remains a crucial component of mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) assessment and recovery. Traditional approaches to assess mTBI lack sensitivity to detect subtle deficits post-injury, which can impact a patient’s quality of life, daily function and can lead to chronic issues. Inertial measurement units (IMU) provide a...
Advancements in Microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) have enabled the manufacture of affordable and efficient wearable devices. In sensor-based gait analysis, motion and biofeedback sensor devices are easily attached to different parts of the body. Instrumentation of gait using different sensor technologies enables researchers and clinicians to ca...
Introduction:
Gait impairment occurs across the spectrum of traumatic brain injury (TBI); from mild (mTBI) to moderate (modTBI), to severe (sevTBI). Recent evidence suggests that objective gait assessment may be a surrogate marker for neurological impairment such as TBI. However, the most optimal method of objective gait assessment is still not we...
Background
Pragmatic challenges remain in the monitoring and return to play (RTP) decisions following suspected Sports Related Concussion (SRC). Reliance on traditional approaches (pen and paper) means players readiness for RTP is often based on self-reported symptom recognition as a marker for full physiological recovery. Non-digital approaches al...
Examining The Use Of Wearables For Remote Monitoring Of Balance, Gait And Sleep In Sports- Related Concussion : A Single Subject Study In Rugby Union
Purpose:
Following a mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) diagnosis, patients are often advised based on current guidelines to restrict cognitive and physical activity (energy demands) until full symptom resolution, which is followed by a graduated return of increasing cognitive and physical activity levels. However, research has found extended peri...
Purpose: The severity of traumatic brain injury (TBI) ranges from mild (mTBI) to severe, with impairment in motor function across the spectrum. TBI can transcend from acute (days to weeks) to chronic (months to years) time periods, significantly impacting physical function and quality of life. Traditional TBI functional assessment is based on subje...
Purpose: Concussion is prevalent in young adult (YA) rugby players and can impact motor, cognitive and sensory dysfunction. Mobility Lab (v1) is a research-grade wearable sensor system for comprehensively assessing balance and gait. The use of wearable sensors within sports such as rugby may enable pitch-side physiotherapists and doctors to instant...
Purpose: Gait characteristics such as turning are commonly impaired in neurological conditions such as Parkinson’s disease and traumatic brain injury (TBI). Traditionally, these characteristics have been measured in a laboratory setting using expensive 3D motion capture or research-grade inertial sensor systems, such as the Opal (APDM Inc., Portlan...
Athletes that participate in contact sport are at risk of suffering Sports-Related Concussion (SRC). A traditional approach of SRC testing relies on the 5th version of the pen-and-paper based sports concussion assessment tool (SCAT5). An open, digital equivalent may facilitate more efficient and transparent assessment. We describe a co-created deve...
Objective
Challenges remain in sports-related concussion (SRC) assessment to better inform return to play. Reliance on self-reported symptoms within the Sports Concussion Assessment Tool means that there are limited data on the effectiveness of novel methods to assess a player’s readiness to return to play. Digital methods such as wearable technolo...
Gait assessment is emerging as a prominent way to understand impaired mobility and underlying neurological deficits. Various technologies have been used to assess gait inside and outside of laboratory settings, but wearables are the preferred option due to their cost-effective and practical use in both. There are robust conceptual gait models devel...
Wearable technology has emerged as useful tools in the assessment of individuals within controlled settings. By utilising wearables during assessments objective digital data can be used to better inform clinical decisions. Of recent pragmatic interest has been the emergence of inertial sensor based wearables (e.g. accelerometers, gyroscopes) that c...
Low-cost wearable sensors that are capable of accurately and robustly measuring and monitoring various markers of health or wellbeing will allow a new era of sports medicine provision. Technological advancements now allow clinicians to monitor individual athletes and groups or teams within a range of environments (clinic, home, training or matches/...
Background: Physical function remains a crucial component of mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) assessment and recovery. Traditional approaches to assess mTBI lack sensitivity to subtle deficits post-injury, which can impact quality of life, daily function and can lead to chronic issues. Inertial measurement units (IMU) provide an objective alterna...
Introduction : Occurrence of sports related concussion (SRC) has risen. Heterogeneous signs and symptoms make it difficult to clinically diagnose and determine when it is safe for return to play (RTP). Typically, subjective pen and paper tests are used for diagnosis and RTP decisions, as no accepted gold standard or objective assessment exists (1,2...
SRC is common in rugby and returning to play before complete recovery increases the risk of
secondary injury. Pitch-side medical staff make return-to-play decisions based on brief
post-injury subjective observations of motor tasks, e.g. gait and balance. Subtle deficits that last for long periods may be missed.
We investigated an open-source inert...
Prevalence of sports related concussion (SRC) has grown, but methods to accurately diagnose and assess are lacking. Typically, subjective pen-and-paper tests during physical functional tasks are used as no objective gold/reference standard exists. Digital inertial-based wearables (e.g. accelerometer) may provide valid, objective digital biomarkers...
Purpose Rugby union has one of the highest incidences of sport related concussion of any contact sport. Despite considerable media interest and research, the underlying relationship between participation in university rugby union and the manifestation of concussion is poorly understood. To address this problem, novel, non-invasive technologies have...
Purpose: Concussion is common in rugby and can lead to motor, cognitive and sensory dysfunction. Returning to participation before complete recovery increases risk of secondary injury. Yet, pitch-side medical staff make return-to-play decisions based on brief post-injury subjective observations, which may miss subtle deficits that objective assessm...
Presentation from the North East Post Graduate Conference about current PhD work, looking at the use of Wearable Technology in Sports Related Concussion. The prevalence of concussion in rugby is growing, but methods to facilitate improved player welfare are lacking. This project will determine the effectiveness of using wearable derived gait and ba...
The primary purpose of this project is to use wearable technology to monitor free-living/habitual gait as a possible clinical marker of concussion. Specifically, the project will continuously monitor university-level rugby players for repeated 1-week intervals. Acute phase free-living assessment may inform improved player management by detecting ab...
This project was an exploratory study of the effects of University Rugby on brain health assessed via a novel neuro-sensory based method conducted during the 2017/2018 rugby season. The study measured five male rugby players across approximately 6 games. In addition, four inactive controls were also included who were not participating in Rugby Unio...
Background: Rugby has the highest incidence of Sport Related Concussion of any contact sport. Despite considerable media interest and research, the underlying relationship between participation in rugby union and the manifestation of concussion is poorly understood. To address this problem, novel, non-invasive technologies have been developed to me...
Projects
Project (1)
The prevalence of sports-related concussion (SRC) in contact sports is growing, but methods to facilitate improved player welfare are lacking.Currently there is no gold standard or objective tool in the diagnosis and monitoring of SRC. The primary purpose of this project is to use novel technologies as objective methods to better inform SRC management and return-to-play protocols in contact sports.
