Scott Delp

Bioengineering Professor Scott Delp is the director of a new national center for rehabilitation research at Stanford. The center will focus on using powerful software that simulates human movement to investigate movement disorders and identify the best treatments for patients.

A movement disorder can have many origins, such as a birth defect, spinal cord injury or stroke. Rehabilitation scientists facilitate treatment of mobility disorders by studying the bodily cause of physical impairments and providing a scientific basis for therapies that can improve function. Simulating a patient’s movement in three-dimensional computer models can help uncover the source of the problem, whether it’s the size of a particular muscle or bone or the way these components perform.

Computer models also provide a visual platform on which to test whether surgery would improve mobility for a specific patient. Read more