Prediction of fatigue & reduction of injuries, infection and attrition rate in Soldiers
The overall well-being of the military personnel has been put forward as one of the major focus points in the strategic agenda of the Belgian Ministry of defense. This overall well-being comprises physical and mental health and is driven by a wide range of factors, such as nutrition, physical fitness levels, risk of physical injury, mental status, health status, etc.
The STATS project, run by 4 partners (UGent, the Military Hospital “Queen Astrid”, IDRO and BioRICS) focuses on the objective collection and interpretation of wearable data of individuals in 4 pillars – physical fitness & recovery, mental readiness, nutrition & hydration and health – as well as on assessing the interaction between the different pillars, supported by defense experts. This proposed methodology should lead to an objective evaluation of the readiness to perform/risk of injury of individual soldiers and allow the staff and professional experts to take corrective actions during a training program or when in operation.
The “ready-to-perform” concept can be compared to topsports where athletes also need to be ready, physically and mentally, every day to deliver top performances.
Next to providing a maximum of objectively measured information to the experts and staff to support them in the decision-making process, an AI-supported blended coaching system will be built to make personal coaching and follow-up by the experts more efficient and straight-forward. This system should most of all meet the individual needs but also be applicable for large numbers of people.
Research & Industry partners for each building block
The STATS-consortium consists of a unique mix of sensor experts, data scientists, movement scientists, health experts and military people. Such a mixture of research, industry and defense is required to be able to manage the multidisciplinary challenges which the STATS project is confronted with.
This project is funded by the Belgian Ministry of defense.
