Skinetix, a new spin-off from imec and Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), develops smart sportswear to maximize athletes’ performance and speed up post-injury recovery

BRUSSELS, LEUVEN (Belgium), November 13, 2024 - Skinetix, an imec/VUB spin-off is developing a platform that supports professional athletes to maximize performance and rehabilitate faster. Sportswear with integrated sensors records detailed movement and muscle activity. By enriching the data with a personalized biomechanical model, the platform grants insights in muscle condition, movement quality and fatigue, allowing training to be adjusted according to the data. The spin-off brings together expertise in sensor technology and AI.

Who is ready to play? Who is better off training separately for rehabilitation? With a well-filled calendar, the pressure is always on in sports competitions. Besides monitoring the fitness of individual athletes, a quantitative measurement of “team readiness” is a crucial advantage for choosing the right setup in matches, and ultimately winning.

In addition to the inconvenience, injuries also come with financial setbacks. In UEFA's top five leagues, the injury cost is estimated at more than 700 million euros per playing season. Almost half of that cost is caused by injuries at the hamstring, a complex balancing system of three muscles at the back of the thigh. Hamstring injuries typically occur after a tear in one of those three muscles, followed by imbalance and overload of the other muscles.

The Skinetix platform assists the medical team by closely monitoring every individual muscle in the hamstrings. Once the injury is present, during training, the platform charts in detail the forces each muscle has to endure, how the balance is, and the level of fatigue - all important parameters when supporting an athlete in his rehabilitation (return to play) and fitness optimization (train to peak).

Real time measurements on the field, real time insights off the field

As part of their PhDs, Skinetix co-founders Joris De Winter (CEO) and Kevin Langlois (CTO), together with imec and VUB, developed a patented way to measure muscle activity and performance in detail and bring them together in a scientifically based model for personalized biodynamic data. This data is not collected in a lab, but directly on the playing field. To that end, Skinetix designed sportswear with integrated electromyogram (EMG) sensors. These sensors capture the electrical impulses that our brain sends to the muscles during a specific movement. All of these sensors are seamlessly integrated into the sportswear.

Today, physical therapists and sports doctors use their eyes or cameras to analyze movements, which gives them only superficial and non-quantitative information. With Skinetix, sports professionals gain access to detailed information to map the quality of a movement and the function of a muscle. The measured data is then transmitted to the Skinetix data platform, where the information is linked to a personalized biomechanical model of the athlete. Using AI, it becomes possible to map an individual player's evolution or to benchmark players - and generate insights to optimize the training program.

Skinetix will join imec istart’s acceleration program, which will further support the growth and development of the company. The spin-off also received support from the Blue Health Innovation Fund. The scientific validation has been completed and currently the spin-off is conducting tests with the prototype, together with the Belgian Athletics Federation and top clubs from the Belgian soccer league.

In 2026, the co-founders want to bring their product to the market. They are aiming for the international soccer clubs primarily, and plan to expand towards American football, athletics, basketball and baseball, all combined a market of potentially 1.5 billion euros with over 250,000 professional athletes.

Joris De Winter, CEO Skinetix: “With a full playing calendar, staying injury-free is a huge challenge for professional athletes across all disciplines. With biomechanical, data-driven insights from the field, Skinetix optimizes the way athletes train so they perform better or rehabilitate faster. Given the cost of injuries, this technology may transform elite sports."

Roel Parys team doctor Team Belgium, Athletics: “It is crucial to measure the muscle activity of individual muscles after an injury in order to reduce the chance of relapse and realize an optimal ‘return to performance.’ With current products this is not possible outside the lab.”

Dave Mattheus, head of RSCA-Women Football: “RSC Anderlecht aims to lead the way in using innovative technologies to provide optimal support for our athletes. This technology allows us to monitor, in a targeted and individualized manner, which players are ready to perform and to reduce the risk of injuries. We are also pleased that the RSCA Women is one of the first professional clubs in Belgium to test this new technology.”

Sven De Cleyn, program director imec.istart: “Skinetix demonstrates how the combination of sensor technology and AI can make a crucial difference to the performance of our elite athletes.”

Peter Schelkens, vice-rector Innovation & Industry Relations, VUB: “At VUB, we are committed to advancing science through cutting-edge research and innovation. The partnership between VUB, imec, and Skinetix illustrates the strength of combining scientific expertise in biomechanics and innovative sensor technology. By enabling real-time, field-based data collection, we bring a new dimension to injury prevention and rehabilitation in sports, providing athletes and medical teams with actionable insights to optimize performance and reduce injuries.”