CHR Faculty Affiliate Britta Berg-Johansen Leads a Multidisciplinary Project Engineering Wearable Posture Sensors
Britta Berg-Johansen, PhD
Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering
Director of Mobile Biomechanics Lab
Most people will experience low back pain at some point in their lives, yet it remains difficult to predict — or prevent. A new project from CHR Faculty Affiliate Britta Berg-Johansen, funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF), aims to change that by developing a lightweight, wearable device that tracks how people actually move throughout the workday.
The system takes the form of a flexible tape worn along the spine. Unlike existing wearables, it pairs motion sensors (inertial measurement units, or IMUs) with flexible strain sensors, allowing it to recognize complex, high-risk postures and tell safer movements, such as a proper squat, from riskier ones.
The project has three goals: engineer and refine the tape-based device to improve accuracy and durability; validate its measurements in the lab against motion-capture systems and force plates to confirm that it reflects true spinal loading; and test it in the field. For the field study, Berg-Johansen is partnering with CHR Senior Research Affiliate Suzanne Phelan to provide the device to farmworkers, evaluate its real-world usability, and examine how posture patterns relate to self-reported back pain.
By capturing movement in real-world settings rather than the lab alone, the research seeks to clarify how everyday motion contributes to spinal loading and injury risk. The longer-term aim is practical: easy-to-use tools that support safer work practices, inform ergonomic training and help prevent back pain before it starts — while giving students across engineering and public health hands-on research experience.
