Belgian start-up Skinetix is busy developing smart sportswear for data-driven training and rehabilitation, Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), which created this spin-off in collaboration with the nanotechnology center, said on Wednesday Imec, based in Leuven. The objective is to enable athletes to optimize their performance or recover more quickly after an injury.
The Skinetix data platform collects data from sensors placed in sports pants that record movements and muscle activity in detail. This data is then integrated into a personalized AI biomechanical model. We thus obtain information on the quality of movement, muscular condition and fatigue, and we can then adapt training and rehabilitation programs.
In addition to physical pain, injuries are also accompanied by financial setbacks, recalls Skinetix. For the five main competitions of UEFA, the European Football Union, injury costs amount to more than 700 million euros per season. Nearly half of these costs are generated by injuries to the hamstrings, a set of three muscles located at the back of the thigh. This type of injury is usually caused by a tear in one of these three muscles, leading to an imbalance and overuse of the other muscles.
The platform will help the medical team by ensuring individual and meticulous monitoring of the hamstring muscles. In the event of an injury, it will indicate during training which muscle is under which tension, and it will also provide information on muscular balance and the level of fatigue.
To develop its product, the spin-off works in close collaboration with the Belgian athletics federation and several major Belgian football clubs, with whom it is currently testing a prototype of the pants.
Skinetix plans to market its product in 2026, initially targeting international football competitions. Then, the designers plan to expand to American football, athletics, basketball and baseball to reach a potential market of 1.5 billion euros and more than 250,000 professional athletes.
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