Dr. ir. Winfred Mugge

Research

Throughout my research career, I have advanced the understanding of human movement disorders using a control-theoretical approach. I have developed methods and devices to assess and understand neuromuscular control in both healthy subjects and patients with neurological dysfunction. Key is the use of force-controlled robotic manipulators, neuromuscular modeling, and closed-loop system identification techniques to untangle the human motor control system.

After my MSc (cum laude) in Mechanical Engineering with a specialization in Biomechatronics and Biorobotics, I performed my PhD project on novel research methods focused on patients with complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS). I pioneered novel system identification techniques that enable the quantification of contributions of force, velocity and position feedback to human motor control simultaneously. Evidence for a relation between CRPS and muscle force feedback is compelling. One of my approaches was published in the high-impact Journal of Neuroscience and another is currently being applied in a clinical trial at the LUMC to assess its diagnostic value.

After my PhD, I turned towards developing a novel system to investigate pathological brain networks in movement disorders combining functional MRI, measures of muscle activity, and a wrist manipulator. This involves a high-end MR-compatible robotic manipulator to apply external motor and sensory perturbations within the MR environment.

My fruitful national and international collaborations have already resulted in joint publications, the development of a commercially available robot manipulator (with MOOG) and the up-and-coming world’s-first MR-compatible haptic manipulator (current project).

Publications

PhD Thesis

• Mugge W (2011) Reflex mechanisms in CRPS-related dystonia. PhD thesis, Delft University of Technology, Delft, the Netherlands, ISBN 978-94-91211-59-1.

 Selected articles

• Mugge W, Abbink DA, Schouten AC, Van der Helm FCT, Arendzen JH, Meskers CGM. Force control in the absence of visual and tactile feedback. Experimental Brain Research – In press.
• Mugge W, Munts AG, Schouten AC, Van der Helm FCT (2012) Modeling movement disorders–CRPS-related dystonia explained by abnormal proprioceptive reflexes. Journal of Biomechanics 45(1):90-8.
• Mugge W, Schouten AC, Bast GJ, Schuurmans J, Van Hilten JJ, Van der Helm FCT (2012) Stretch reflex responses in Complex Regional Pain Syndrome-related dystonia are not characterized by hyperreflexia. Clinical Neurophysiology 123(3):569-76.
• Munts AG, Mugge W, Meurs TS, Schouten AC, Marinus J, Moseley GL, Van der Helm FCT, Van Hilten JJ (2011) Fixed dystonia in complex regional pain syndrome: a descriptive and computational modeling approach. BioMedCentral Neurology 11:53.
• Mugge W, Abbink DA, Schouten AC, Dewald JPA, Van der Helm FCT (2010) A rigorous model of reflex function indicates that position and force feedback are flexibly tuned to position and force tasks. Experimental Brain Research 200(3-4):325-40.
• Mugge W, Schuurmans J, Schouten AC, van der Helm FCT (2009) Sensory weighting of force and position feedback in human motor control tasks. Journal of Neuroscience 29:5476-5482.
• Schouten AC, Mugge W, Van der Helm FCT (2008) NMClab, a model to assess the contributions of muscle visco-elasticity and afferent feedback to joint dynamics. J Biomech 41:1659–1667.
• Mugge W, Abbink DA, Van der Helm FCT (2007) Reduced Power: How to evoke low-bandwidth behaviour while estimating full-bandwidth dynamics. IEEE International Conference On Rehabilitation Robotics, volumes 1 and 2; 575-581.
• Heijnsdijk EAM, Kragten GA, Mugge W, Dankelman J, Gouma DJ (2005) Fenestrations in the jaws of laparoscopic graspers. Minimally Invasive Therapy and Allied Technologies 14:1; 45-48.