The new scanner images a rapidly moving object

ENGINEERINGNET.BE – In collaboration with the RevArte Rehabilitation Hospital in Edegem, the team of Professor Steffen Troijn, Wim Saess and Sofia Scattaglini from UAntwerp recently began using a new high-tech body scanner.

It is not an impressive device as the patient has to lie still, but it is an innovative device that contains fourteen scanning units, consisting of several cameras. In this 4D4ALL laboratory, the entire shape of the human body can be measured very quickly and inexpensively, with densities of up to 50,000 points.

“People who have a stroke often become paralyzed on one side,” Says says. “They have to learn to walk again. To determine the success of the treatment, an analysis of the patient’s gait must be carried out. It is a time-consuming and labor-intensive task: the patient is covered in marks and has to stay upright for a long time, which is difficult for someone with partial paralysis.” Walking with these marks is also not easy, so gait analysis does not provide a normal picture.

The 4D4ALL scanner offers many advantages: 14 scanning units visualize everything in detail in just seconds. No markings are needed, allowing the patient to walk normally. The cameras use harmless infrared light.

Truijen and his colleagues also want to use the new technology to practice prevention. “You can see from the details in the way you walk that something is wrong years before the neurological disorder becomes apparent.”

“For people with a genetic risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease, for example, you can do a gait analysis. Nothing can be seen with the naked eye, but hundreds of scans and measurements of movements can record such things. We can also detect throat tumors and melanomas this way.” Discover it faster.

The 4D scanner is currently unique in the world. This attracts scientists from all over the world. Troijn: “NASA actually came to take a look. In the long term, this innovative setup, which represents a big step toward personalized medicine, will appear everywhere. Ultimately, the benefits are enormous.”