Predavanje "Prevention of biomechanical alterations of the foot by using new technologies"

CV

Dr. Martha Zequera Díaz was awarded a Ph.D. degree from the Bioengineering Unit at the University of Strathclyde, UK where she is now an Honorary Research Fellow. Dr. Zequera is associate professor at Electronics Department of Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, Bogotá, Colombia and she has been working as a researcher for ten years at the Bioengineering Research Group focus in signal and image processing analysis.

Her current research interests include rehabilitation, biomechanics, and biomechanical assessment of plantar foot tissue in the diabetic foot, CAD/CAM foot orthoses, diabetes new technology, expert systems, healthcare information systems and medical ultrasound and she has published over 30 technical papers and one book. She is a world-renowned researcher in biomechanics management of the diabetic foot and She is the Latin American Representative of the Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society 2009-2012 and Chair of the EMBS Chapter Development Committee 2011 and She was the Secretary of the Latin American Regional Council on Biomedical Engineering (CORAL) Administrative Committee (ADCOM) for five years, which was founded with co-sponsorship of the International Federation for Medical and Biological Engineering (IFMBE) and IEEE-EMBS. Professor Zequera is Vice-chair of CoS at IFMBE European society. She has organized many scientific meetings, international symposia and courses in various bioengineering research areas with guest speakers from IEEE-EMBS, CORAL and IFMBE. She has been Managing Director of Ergosalud LTDA since 1998, an independent ergonomics and occupational health management research risks, consultancy and training company. Dr. Zequera has acted as a consultant for Nestle, Texaco, British Petroleum Company, General Motors and Mobil.

PS

I am seeking to explore new strategies for the membership services and membership development, focused on generating a social impact according to the needs of each region, this for the benefit of the members and humanity. I would also work on improving the personalized communication between Student Chapters, Chapter Chairs, Regional Representatives, Gold Members and WIE Members, with the use of Information and Communications Technology (ICT), in order to know their needs and promote their initiatives, and by that prevent the defection of members. I aim to promote annual regional events, responding to the themes of interest of each region, involving both industry and academic professionals, supported by student chapters, in order to encourage leadership, integration, linking professionals in other areas and the exchange of scientific and technological experiences potentiating the DLT program. I am looking forward to strengthen the cooperating relationship between regional representatives and their assigned chapters, defining their role and supporting their networking initiatives, as well as promoting exchange activities between students, Gold and WIE members of the different regions, to establish cooperation alliances, cultural exchange and institutional support. Furthermore, I consider it is very important to promote the active participation of Chapter Chairs in the academic activities as well as in the annual conference sessions of EMBS and also creating a committee with academy and industry AdCom members, to propose specific marketing projects.

PRESENTATION ABSTRACT

Using new technologies for the diagnosis of the biomechanics of the foot is becoming relevant for occupational health problems, especially when foot occupational health risk is being reported increasingly. Foot injuries from punctures, crushing, sprains, and lacerations account for 10 percent of all reported disabling injuries, and injuries from slips, trips and falls account for 15 percent of all reported disabling injuries. The lack of attention to foot safety plays an important role in their occurrence. These foot injuries do not exhaust the whole range of foot problems at work; there are other conditions such as calluses and foot deformities that are common among workers. Although these may not be considered as occupational injuries, they can have serious consequences for health and safety at the workplace. They cause discomfort, pain and fatigue. Fatigue sets up the worker for further injuries affecting the muscles and joints. Also, a worker who is tired and suffering pain is less alert and more likely to act unsafely. New technologies such as plantar pressure distribution measurement systems, with a wide variety of sensors, resistive and capacitive, can help to make an early detection of biomechanical alterations, and can contribute to the design of comfortable work footwear in static and dynamic conditions.