The consortium behind Mobilise-D consists of many of the world’s leading scientists, clinicians, and companies on mobility assessment in general and the use of body-worn sensors in particular.

More than 150 professionals from 34 participating universities, hospitals, and industry with the necessary technical, clinical, and regulatory expertise will work together over a five-year period (2019-2024) to reach the common goal of validating health care technology.

The consortium will work closely with regulators and other stakeholders to ensure that the solutions are accepted. In addition, representatives from patient and senior organisations, regulatory bodies, and all other relevant stakeholders will be involved throughout the project by participating in project management, stakeholder boards, and stakeholder events.

In order to target mobility loss effectively and be able to prevent it, we need valid tools that can detect and measure how well someone walks, including speed, symmetry/efficiency, pain, and endurance. Existing mobility endpoints based on performance, patient self-reporting, and one-off assessment are resource intensive and lack sensitivity, which limits therapeutic development and clinical management.

A novel approach is needed that is low cost, simple, accurate and capable of use in the real world, including the home and the community. Wearable digital technology has the potential to measure and monitor real-world walking speed (RWS) and other mobility outcomes.

The term “digital mobility outcomes” summarizes the combination of the digital mobility assessment of real-world walking speed (RWS) as a primary outcome and other relevant mobility outcomes as secondary outcomes.

Optimal treatment of impaired mobility is a key healthcare challenge in the 21st century. However, there is a need for better ways to detect and measure mobility loss. Digital technology, including body worn sensors, has the potential to revolutionise mobility assessment. Many people living with chronic conditions or injury have reduced mobility. By implementing mobility assessment in clinical practice, practitioners can detect changes earlier and thereby treat their patients effectively and personalised.

Mobility problems are often related to low physical activity, different gait disturbances, and frailty, which each affect large groups of European citizens over substantial periods of time. In addition, the chosen patient groups bring a broad and heterogeneous range of subject characteristics, resulting in a large proportion of chronic care needs. The patient groups included in Mobilise-D have been chosen because these patients represent different kinds of mobility problems with different trajectories of disability over time. Although our initial focus is on a restricted number of patient groups, we expect that results from the Mobilise-D project will be relevant for all conditions associated with mobility loss.

Mobilise-D is funded through the Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI), Europe’s largest public-private initiative aiming to speed up the development of better and safer treatments for patients. IMI supports collaborative projects and builds networks of industrial and academic experts in order to boost pharmaceutical innovation in Europe. 

Mobilise-D has received funding from IMI 2 Joint Undertaking under grant agreement No. 820820. This Joint Undertaking receives support from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme and the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA).