Podcast 22: Damien Fournet, SPORTSLAB R&D Project Manager at Decathlon

? In the twenty second episode (in English) of “Thermography: Science, Health and Sport” we introduce Damien Fournet, SPORTSLAB R&D Project Manager at Decathlon, France.

? Damien Fournet applies thermography in his daily practice to research about how physical activity and exercise impact the skin temperature to create new products. Also, he tests new material, garments and technologies with infrared thermography to know how they interact with the human body.

⚙ As a prolific thermography researcher, he has always a future perspective about how to develop the tool. He sees the future as an opportunity to develop applications during sports practice, to know when the athlete gets tired or is in danger. In addition, he gives emphasizes the individualization, for example in the recovery process.

For him is all about infrared thermal patterns to create body maps to custom new products at Decathlon.

#thermohuman #thermography #product #decathlon #research #innovation #sports

TRANSCRIPTION

Ismael: “I want to know, how have you been using thermography in the last years?”

Damien: “Sure, I can tell you… perhaps one of the first applications of thermography, back in the days from my PhD years, was developing a knowledge of body maps of people exercising. Based on this knowledge we developed specific sportswear garments with different materials depending on the body regions and we were really matching these maps and we were also combining the infrared body maps with sweat mapping, that was also developed at Loughborough University. And sensitivity mapping, that I developed during my PhD and with my colleagues at the time.”

Damien: “But we mainly look at new applications, because we evaluate new technologies. For example, we’ve been using reflecting technologies within in the jacket, for example, that reflects parts of infrared rays of the human body. So, that is a way also to evaluate new types of technology or inflatable technologies that provides more insulation. So, we could sometimes use infrared thermography to look at the impact of these technologies on the human body.”

Damien: “But we are currently building a project especially to anticipate hot weather, as the planet is heating up. We are starting to think about both: performance, for athletes who do different type of exercises and also the impact of very hot climate, for the main general public. And how we can also prevent some risk or heat casualties. And that is something I wanted to mention in the future steps, that is really something, that I think it is promising for the use of infrared thermography.”

Damien Fournet: “That could be more for, perhaps, top athletes that could be a personalized way to look at. Specifically the regions with the perforator vessels. So, you know, when we have these maps and at a high intensity exercise. It is clear, very clear. And, in my view, doing a personal assessment of this and targeting this for recovery, for example, that could be a bit more targeted.

That is something promising, I have not done an extensive research, but in my view that is, perhaps an area whether it could be cooling or warming. Perhaps using, this kind of links between the fresh, some fresh blood, and the integration within the body. That is perhaps one thing to look at.

“So, looking at perforator vessels by infrared thermography and thinking about personalized interventions both for cooling or for warming.”

Damien Fournet, R&D Proyect Manager at Decathlon