Mobility represents an important marker of health, and a slow walking speed is associated with a greater risk of disease, cognitive decline, risk of falls and even earlier death. As the population ages, the number of people experiencing mobility issues is expected to rise. However, accurately assessing people’s mobility, especially in the real world, is far from easy.
The Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI) funded Mobilise-D project aims to develop a comprehensive system to analyse people’s gait using digital technologies, including sensors worn on the body. The IMI is a public[1]private partnership aiming to speed up the development of better and safer medicines for patients. The project focuses on conditions that often affect mobility, namely chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis, and hip fracture recovery. IMI Mobilise-D plans to work closely with regulators and other stakeholders to ensure that the solutions are accepted. Once validated, the IMI Mobilise-D results will help to improve the accurate assessment of mobility in clinical trials. They will also make it easier for clinicians to monitor patients’ mobility and thereby contribute to improved, more personalised care.
IMI Mobilise-D is a five year public[1]private partnership launched in April 2019 with 34 consortium members consisting of a collaboration between leading universities, hospitals, pharmaceutical and technical companies. ICON is a consortium member of the IMI Mobilise-D project and is a co-lead on the data management workstream and an active member on the communications workstream, Project Executive committee and the Exploitation, Impact and Sustain[1]ability Committee.
ICON is also co-lead for Work Package 3, which is responsible for the design and implementation of the end-to-end data storage and management platform, as the principal aim of Work Package 3 is to provide a facility for managing and storing the data generated during Work Packages 2 and 4, which consist of the Technical and Clinical Validation Studies, respectively. ICON is also a significant contributor to Work Package 7, whose main goal is to drive public awareness of the project by disseminating, teaching, and spreading the outcomes and results of the project. To promote access and use of project results, Mobilise-D will create and implement procedures to make data, standards, and software openly accessible. To ensure sustainability after the life of the project, digital mobility assessment modules will be developed and released that will enable external researchers and industry to include real-world mobility assessment in future studies and trials.
Why is Mobility Important?
Walking is an important part of mobility, however almost a third of people over 75 have difficulties walking,1 with severe societal and personal consequences. Mobility is also an important indicator of health and functional integrity. Even small changes in how we walk, such as how fast or how far, signal underlying problems or worsening health, and provide important insights into multiple health conditions. Additionally, living with long-term diseases further contribute to the burden of mobility loss.
