Sensors Webinar | Recent Trends in Wearable Sensors for the Characterization of Human Spinal Biomechanics
the chair
30th Sensors Webinar
Recent Trends in Wearable Sensors for the Characterization of Human Spinal Biomechanics
Wearable sensors have become ubiquitous across society, with our watches, phones and fitness gear replete with instruments for monitoring our motion, heart rate, blood oxygen, and so on. Research teams at Brigham Young University and the University of Pittsburgh have been collaborating for several years on a large-scale National Institute of Health initiative to study, and hopefully eventually mitigate, what is possibly the most pervasive societal ailment—back pain. By pushing the frontiers of wearable sensor design, and combining the new technology with artificial intelligence data mining approaches, the teams have made significant strides in terms of developing systems for monitoring the biomechanics of chronic lower back pain sufferers—outside of the clinic environment—and interpreting the meaning of the resulting data. Two of the most preeminent scientists in the study, Professors Anton Bowden and Kevin Bell, will share their insights on the recent progress made to wearable sensor design, and its potential impact on our spinal health as a society.
Date: Thursday, 28 May 2026
Time: 8:00 am to 9:10 am MDT | 10:00 am to 11:10 am EDT
Webinar ID: 861 4527 2498
Webinar Secretariat: journal.webinar@mdpi.com
Meet the Event Chair
Meet Our Speakers
Prof. Dr. Anton Bowden
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT 84602, USA;
Anton Bowden is a Professor and Associate Chair of Mechanical Engineering at Brigham Young University and the director of the BYU Applied Biomechanics Engineering Laboratory. His background and research interests are in spinal biomechanics, medical device design, and wearable sensor technologies. He is a licensed professional engineer and currently serves as Chair of the NCEES Mechanical Engineering Professional Licensure Exams Committee. Dr. Bowden is a prolific inventor with 26 awarded US patents, primarily in orthopedic devices and wearable sensors. His work has been funded by the National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation, and by research grants from industry.
Dr. Kevin Michael Bell
Department of Bioengineering, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15260, USA;
Dr. Bell is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Bioengineering at the University of Pittsburgh. Dr. Bell is a member of the Human Movement and Balance Laboratory and his research interests focus on the development and application of portable human movement sensors towards the assessment of joint function throughout the musculoskeletal system. Specifically, clinical and laboratory-based experimentation focuses on assessing the effects of joint injury, repair and rehabilitation to promote more effective clinical treatments and improved clinical outcomes. Recent projects have focused on the development and validation of portable sensor platforms for remote rehabilitation and biomechanical phenotyping of chronic low back pain as a part of the NIH HEAL Initiative's Back Pain Consortium (BACPAC).
Sponsors and Partners
Organizer
In this section, you will find the recording of this webinar to watch. Re-watch and share with your colleagues!
In this webinar, Drs. Anton Bowden (Brigham Young University) and Kevin Bell (University of Pittsburgh) share recent studies relating to wearable sensor technologies for the exploration of chronic lower back pain. Two different sensor types are discussed, and observed correlations between motion characteristics and experienced pain levels are presented. The outlook for sensor technology in the study of biomechanics is reviewed.
"Advances in Sensor Technologies for Wearable Applications: 2nd Edition"
Edited by Prof. Dr. David Fullwood and Prof. Dr. Anton Bowden
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 December 2026