My research is focused primarily around complex hand dexterity, biomechanics and developments in health technologies. Use the links below for more information on each project. A list of past projects is also available and details of the SHAP Business Enterprise, which I run out of the University, can be found at the bottom of this page.

Hand & Wrist Kinematic Measurement (HAWK) Overview
A comprehensive kinematic measurement technique has been developed to measure all the degrees of freedom of the wrist, hand, fingers and thumb. This technique has been validated for accuracy and reliability, and has been applied in many different interdisciplinary projects in order to further our understanding of the strategies of movement adopted in various aspects of hand function.

The Science of Music
HAWK is currently being applied to the hands of musicians while they are playing! Using the unique algorithms within HAWK, we can analyse technique, use HAWK as a teaching tool and provide a precise analysis of playing styles to instrumentalists that has not previously been possible.

Interacting with Sculptures
Our collaboration with Winchester School of Art, PhD student Ben Jenkins uses motion capture to help understand how people interact with sculptures.

Kinect for Rehabilitation
Using the Microsoft Kinect, our team has developed a way of tracking hand movement and measuring finger joint movement in real-time. This project is a collaboration between the University and Roke Manor Research Limited.

Haptic Devices for Stroke Rehabilitation
This collaborative project between the Faculty of Health Sciences (FHS) and Electronics & Computer Science (ECS) at the University of Southampton, has developed novel devices for providing a tactile sensation to a person's fingertip using a variety of different technologies and mechanisms. The developed devices are evaluated through participant studies to ascertain which devices provide the most realistic and usable sensations for use in stroke rehabilitation.

Child Prosthetics
Rejection rates of prosthetic devices in children are known to be high. This project, funded by the University of Southampton, will develop a number of prosthetic upper limb devices using the views of children to inform their design.

Knee Joint Osteoarthritis
This project is investigating the key factors associated with osteoarthritis in the knee joint. We are using our state-of-the-art 3D motion capture facilities to assess the differences between static and dynamic knee joint alignment.

Co-contraction in Hemiplegic Gait
In a collaboration with the University of Aveiro, Portugal, PhD student Marlene Rosa is assessing co-contraction in hemiplegic gait using sEMG in a clinical environment.

Prosthetics - Biomechanical Assessment of Lower Limb Prostheses
This project was funded by the Ministry of Defense and the aim was to investigate the pressure at the sock/stump interface. In additionn to interface pressure, we also measured 3D motion, EMG and a number of standardised functional outcome measurements for the lower limb. A major outcome of this project was a systematic review of the factors associated with prosthetic prescription in transtibial and transfemoral amputees.



Smart Textiles - Pressure Measurement
In a project funded by the Ministry of Defense, the use of printed smart textiles was investigated as a method of measuring pressure at the sock/stump interface in lower limb military amputees.

Smart Textiles - Fabric Goniometers
This project, funded by the University of Southampton and in collaboration with AgResearch in New Zealand, was an investigation into the use of woven smart textiles to measure changes in knee joint position during everyday activities.


Rehabilitation Robotics - SmartArmeo
In a collaborative project between Hocoma (Switzerland) and the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETHZ-Switzerland), the aim was to develop control algorithms for integrating FES into the Armeo robot.

Efficacy of Upper Limb Robotics
This project, funded by Wessex Medical Research, was a two-year project capitalising on our expertise assessing upper limb movement and function to define the movements associated with using the Armeo robot developed by Hocoma. This project is investigating the efficacy of using the Armeo and FES for recovering hand function following stroke.

Pattern Recognition for Exercise Monitoring
A novel characterisation algorithm was developed and tested for classifying and monitoring lower limb exercises recommended for the prevention of Deep Vein Thrombosis.

Silver Ring Splints
This award-winning project, funded by Wessex Medical Research, was undertaken to investigate the efficacy of silver ring splints to correct hyperextension of the proximal interphalangeal joint of the finger. HAWK was applied to patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis when wearing these splints to ascertain their effectiveness.

The SHAP is a validated measure of hand function and is commercially available from the University of Southampton. For further information and for details on how to buy a SHAP, please check out the SHAP website here.