The department of Experimental anatomy is a basis for fundamental research of topographical, functional and clinical anatomy, polarised around the human body and its body composition.
The EXAN-research department represents three research lines. The research line on joint kinematics focusses on the internal motion mechanisms in human joints with a special interest in the segmental and regional kinematics the cervical spine. The research line on body composition consists of two sublines. One focusses on the methodological aspects and the other on the clinical application of BC techniques. The third line of research is based on anatomical questions raised by the clinical field and has a main focus on anatomical variation and its clinical relevance. Each of this research lines has grown over the past years and has built up its specific expertise.
The department will continue to prioritize and strengthen its core expertise, often described as the “soul” of macroscopic anatomy. The Arthrokinematics Research Group will maintain its focus on the kinematics of the cervical spine, building on the strong expertise developed through several years of IRP-funded research in dynamic musculoskeletal analysis, particularly using advanced medical imaging technologies such as cone-beam CT. This experience, combined with both national (ULB – Université Libre de Bruxelles – LABO) and international collaborations (Università degli Studi di Genova, Italy; SOMT, Netherlands), will support further advancement in this field.
The Functional Body Composition research line will continue its collaborative efforts with national partners (GERO-VUB, Novartis) and international institutions (Pennington Biomedical Research Center, USA; Hanzehogeschool, Netherlands), with specific emphasis on the assessment of muscle quality and quantity.
Furthermore, the Functional Musculoskeletal Anatomy research line will develop targeted collaborations with ECMT (European Continued Medical Training) and with industrial partners requiring detailed anatomical evidence for the development of advanced medical interventions, for example in the field of neuromodulation. This line of research will emphasize the clinical and translational relevance of anatomical variability.