Graphic with a stylized orange brain connected to circuit lines on the left. Text reads: "Foot and Balance Research in Aging and Neurodegeneration."
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FAB Lead: Dr Lizeth Sloot

Newcastle Academic Track (NUAcT) Research Fellow

Clinical Movement Analysis Society UK and Ireland (CMAS) board member

Email: lizeth.sloot@newcastle.ac.uk

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The FAB team advances dynamic balance and movement analysis, focusing on foot-floor interactions, to support effective identification and monitoring of fall-prone persons in ageing and age-related conditions.

Dr Lizeth Sloot is a biomechanist specialising in balance impairment in ageing and neurodegeneration.

As part of her NUAcT fellowship, she develops models and measurement techniques to improve our ability to detect early balance decline. With a focus on how our feet support our bodies throughout different daily movements, her research program aims to co-create accurate, representative, and meaningful balance measures to enable accessible, local balance screening and training. 

Lizeth leads the Foot and Balance (FAB) team, whose mission is to develop, validate and translate quantitative balance assessment to improve our understanding of balance problems and to prevent falls. Our team aims to contribute to open science by publishing our datasets, models and code.

FAB Team

FAB Datasets & Models

We are driven to share our datasets, models and code, to help advance the creation new methods and answer new questions.

Icon of a database connected to multiple squares, with the word "Datasets" below, all in orange.

Our datasets are in the same format, enabling easy merging and analyses in Matlab:

  • Walking data in 138 adults across the life span (motion, force, EMG) - collaboration with University of Antwerp

  • Motion data across daily tasks in 109 young and older adults (motion, force) - in development with Heidelberg University & KIT (contact me if you are interested in the dataset)

  • Motion data across perturbed daily tasks in 60 young and older adults (IMU) - in development with Heidelberg University (contact me if you are interested in the dataset)

Diagram of acupuncture points on the top of a foot, showing various marked sites and labels for different muscles and points.

Our models and code for balance analysis:

  • functional Base of Support (fBOS) for young and older adults. These can be retrospectively attached to PiG or IOR foot marker data using our example data and functions (GitHub) - collaboration Dr. Matthew Millard, University of Stuttgart

  • Margin-of-stability balance analysis adapted to sit-to-stand and stand-to-sit motions - collaboration Dr. Matthew Millard, University of Stuttgart

FAB Studies

  • An informational graphic about hemodynamics showing a sequence of an active person, a nurse, and an elderly person with a cane, with the title 'HEIMOVE' and the subtitle 'Understanding decline in balance and motion with ageing and frailty'.

    HeiMOVE

    Decline in motion and balance with ageing and frailty

    Funder: Carl Zeiss Foundation, NUAcT fellowship

    Principal Investigator: Dr Lizeth Sloot

    This study is linked to the HEIAGE project (PI: Prof Katja Mombaur, KIT Germany)

    Find out more
  • Neon sign with the word "FUNBOS" and two orange glowing human figures, one walking and one using a cane, on blue oval bases.

    FunBOS

    Validating the foot support area we use to stablize ourselves

    Funder: Rosetrees & Stoneygate Foundations fellowship, NUAcT fellowship

    Principal Investigator: Dr. Lizeth Sloot

    Team members: Liyi Chen

    Find out more
  • A stylized logo of a person walking on a treadmill with the letters 'EPP' below.

    EPP

    Dependence of reactive balance ability on the measured daily movement

    Funder: Baden-Württemberg Stiftung

    Principal Investigator: Dr Lizeth Sloot

    Team members: Nikita Sharma

    Find out more
  • A simplified illustration of a person using a walker, accompanied by the text 'HEKA' and 'Rollator-human interactions'.

    HEIKA

    Understanding the effect of rollator support on balance

    Funder: Heidelberg Karlsruhe Strategic Partnership

    Principal Investigator: Dr Lizeth Sloot

    Find out more