Neuro Ortho Research Movement Analysis Lab (NORMAL)

The Neuro Ortho Research Movement Analysis Lab (NORMAL), directed by Prof. Ugo Della Croce, is a research group of the University of Sassari. The mission of the laboratory is to carry out research and teaching in the field of bioengineering. The lab has a fully equipped motion analysis system that includes a 12-camera stereophotogrammetric system, 2 six-components force plates and a load-cell, a 16-channel wearable electromyography system, a number of wearable inertial and magnetic sensors and an augmented/mixed reality headset. Current research projects focus on the validation of personalised robotic exoskeletons and bionic limbs, gait analysis outside the lab in people with neurological diseases, motor learning in mixed reality environments under altered gravity conditions, as well as experiments using microgravity simulators aimed at the development of mathematical models to analyse the influence of microgravity in biological processes. Lab members are biomedical engineers, computer scientists, kinesiologists and physical therapists. Competences span from high-resolution motion analysis to biomechanics, and from computational modelling in system biology to neural networks. NORMAL is involved in numerous Italian and international funded research programs and it is part of the Interuniversity Centre of Bioengineering of the Human Neuromusculoskeletal System (IUC BOHNES), a consortium among several bioengineering research centres based in Europe aimed at improving the knowledge of human locomotor system’s structure and functioning, and at implementing effective digital tools and technologies, to be used in arts, skills, and professions.