Postdoc Markerless Motion Capture for Home Monitoring in Neurological Populations

Are you passionate about shaping the future of healthcare? Do you want to develop technology that truly matters in people’s lives? Join us in creating radical innovations that support patients at home

The department of Biomechanical Engineering TU Delft seeks a motivated postdoctoral researcher for the Postdoc Markerless Motion Capture for Home Monitoring in Neurological Populations, with a background in biomechanical engineering, for a full-time, fully funded project on the clinical validation of single-camera markerless motion capture for assessment and long-term home monitoring of motor impairments in stroke and Parkinson's disease patients.

• The position is based at TU Delft, with measurements at clinical partner sites and in patients' homes.
• Part of your time will be spent on-site at Model Health in Leuven, Belgium, to co-develop the home-based prototype.
• Salary range: €3706 - €5760
• FTE: 1,0

Job description

The position is supervised by Dr. Eline van der Kruk and Dr. Ajay Seth. You will work closely with clinicians, patients, and Model Health, embedded in the multidisciplinary “Care is coming home!” program, a 5-year consortium of 2 technical universities (TU Delft, UTwente), 6 hospitals, 13 companies (including Model Health), 1 rehabilitation centre, and 5 patient organisations.

The Challenge

Reliable, long-term monitoring of motor impairments outside the clinic is essential to support home-based rehabilitation, yet existing markerless motion capture systems are rarely validated on neurological gait patterns and struggle to generalize across pathology, body morphology, camera viewpoint, and home environments. Before such systems can support clinical decisions, we need to know how accurate they really are, for which patients, and under which conditions. We also need to understand which outcome measures are valid and meaningful to patients, caregivers and clinicians. This position aims to close that gap: you will verify and validate a single-camera markerless motion capture system against gold-standard 3D marker-based motion capture and musculoskeletal models, first in the lab and then in patients' homes, linking biomechanical accuracy to clinically meaningful outcomes.

You will:

• Assess the accuracy of markerless outcome measures against marker-based 3D motion capture and musculoskeletal modelling in people with stroke and Parkinson’s disease.
• Use musculoskeletal modelling to compare markerless and marker-based estimates, evaluate their biomechanical plausibility and perform sensitivity analyses.
• Evaluate whether these outcome measures are valid, meaningful, and acceptable in the home environment, in collaboration with patients, caregivers and clinicians.
• Generate biomechanically realistic synthetic movement data from musculoskeletal simulations to train and improve markerless motion capture models.
• Design and carry out home measurements with a single-camera prototype developed together with Model Health, and compare its real-world performance with lab-based measurements.
• Contribute to clinician-facing visualization of the results, with privacy-by-design protection of patients and their home environment.

You will translate this into a research plan aimed at peer-reviewed publications, alongside consortium deliverables.

Our offer

You will become part of the funded research program in the Netherlands named “Care is coming home!”, which involves 9 PhDs and 5 Postdocs. We offer an excellent inspiring, collaborative, and international research environment, with access to leading experts in medical technology and AI-driven healthcare solutions. Additionally, you will have access to state-of-the-art labs, clinical partners, and patient organisations, which are preconditions to make a meaningful contribution to the future of sustainable healthcare.

• Full-time postdoctoral position for one year, with the possibility of extension by up to two years.
• Excellent mentorship and a stimulating international research environment with excellent facilities.

Job requirements

We are seeking an ambitious, hands-on postdoctoral researcher who wants to find out whether markerless motion capture truly works for patients, in the lab and at home. You combine a strong engineering background in biomechanics with the communication skills to work directly with clinicians and patients.

You bring:

• A PhD in Biomechanical Engineering, Biomedical Engineering, Human Movement Sciences, or a related engineering discipline.
• Hands-on experience with musculoskeletal modelling (e.g., OpenSim, AnyBody), including critical evaluation of model outputs.
• Experience with marker-based 3D motion capture (e.g., Vicon, Qualisys) and force plates, from protocol design to data processing.
• Strong programming skills (e.g., Python and/or MATLAB) for data processing, analysis pipelines, and statistics; experience with markerless or video-based pose estimation (e.g., OpenCap) is a plus.
• Experience with, or a strong motivation to work on, measurements in patient populations, preferably people with stroke or Parkinson’s disease.
• Excellent communication and organization skills to explain technology clearly to clinicians and to work with patients, including in their home environment.
• Ability to work independently while thriving in a collaborative, multidisciplinary consortium team.
• Fluency in English, both written and spoken.

Willingness to travel regularly to Model Health in Leuven (Belgium), clinical partner sites, and patients' homes in the Netherlands.

Proficiency in Dutch is strongly preferred, as you will visit patients at home; proficiency in Moroccan Arabic or Turkish is an additional advantage.

If you enjoy bringing biomechanics from the lab to the clinic and into people's homes, this postdoc is the perfect opportunity to make a real impact in home-based neurological monitoring.

TU Delft (Delft University of Technology)

At TU Delft, our people make the difference. With their knowledge and curiosity, our staff provide a high-quality education and conduct pioneering research that extends beyond the campus. You will have the opportunity to take the initiative, work with others, and grow as a professional.

Faculty Mechanical Engineering

ME is a dynamic and innovative faculty with high-tech lab facilities and international reach. It’s a large faculty but also versatile, so we can often make unique connections by combining different disciplines. We translate our knowledge and insights into solutions to societal issues, contributing to a sustainable society and to the development of prosperity and well-being.

Conditions of employment

• Duration of contract is 36 months. Temporary.
• A job of 36-40 hours per week.
• Salary and benefits are in accordance with the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities.
• An excellent pension scheme via the ABP.
• The possibility to compile an individual employment package every year.
• Discount with health insurers on supplemental packages.
• Flexible working week.
• Every year, 232 leave hours (at 38 hours). You can also sell or buy additional leave hours via the individual choice budget.
• Plenty of opportunities for education, training and courses.
• Partially paid parental leave.
• Attention for working healthy and energetically with the vitality program.

Will you need to relocate to the Netherlands for this job? TU Delft is committed to make your move as smooth as possible. The HR unit, Coming to Delft Service, offers information to help you prepare your relocation, organises events to help you settle in the Netherlands and expand your social network in Delft, and provides a Dual Career Programme to support your accompanying partner with their job search in the Netherlands.