Björn Krüger
Professor
- Company:University Hospital Bonn
Björn Krüger
Professor
Björn Krüger is Professor of Personalized Digital Health and Telemedicine at the University of Bonn and the Department of Epileptology at University Hospital Bonn. His research focuses on computational modeling of human behavior, wearable sensing, and digital health technologies, with applications in neurology and clinical care. He has held academic positions at the University of Bonn and TH Köln and brings experience from industry-driven research and development in wearable systems.
Publications
2025
Bhatti, Faraz Ahmad; Riaz, Qaiser; Krüger, Björn
Beyond Falls: A Hybrid CNN–LSTM–Attention Framework for Pre-, Transition-, and Post-Fall Detection with Wearable Inertial Sensors Journal Article
In: IEEE Access, 2025.
@article{Bhatti2025,
title = {Beyond Falls: A Hybrid CNN–LSTM–Attention Framework for Pre-, Transition-, and Post-Fall Detection with Wearable Inertial Sensors},
author = {Faraz Ahmad Bhatti and Qaiser Riaz and Björn Krüger},
doi = {10.1109/ACCESS.2025.3641198},
year = {2025},
date = {2025-12-05},
urldate = {2025-12-02},
journal = {IEEE Access},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
Moontaha, Sidratul; Cavalier, Constanze; Esser, Birgitta; Jordan, Arthur; Goebel, Ines; Anders, Christoph; Mimi, Afsana; Krüger, Björn; Surges, Rainer; Arnrich, Bert
EPIStress: A multimodal dataset of Physiological signals to measure cognitive stress in epilepsy patients Journal Article
In: Scientific Data, vol. 12, iss. 1, no. 1867, 2025, ISBN: 2052-4463.
@article{Moontaha2025,
title = {EPIStress: A multimodal dataset of Physiological signals to measure cognitive stress in epilepsy patients},
author = {Sidratul Moontaha and Constanze Cavalier and Birgitta Esser and Arthur Jordan and Ines Goebel and Christoph Anders and Afsana Mimi and Björn Krüger and Rainer Surges and Bert Arnrich},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-025-06328-3},
doi = {10.1038/s41597-025-06328-3},
isbn = {2052-4463},
year = {2025},
date = {2025-11-28},
urldate = {2025-12-01},
journal = {Scientific Data},
volume = {12},
number = {1867},
issue = {1},
abstract = {Epilepsy patients commonly report stress as a frequent seizure trigger; however, the objective seizure-stress relationship is unclear due to self-report biases and difficulty in objective quantification of stress. This work presents a dataset from twenty epilepsy patients undergoing cognitive stress elicitation protocols, participating in laboratory experiments with computer-based tasks at predefined difficulty levels, and in situational experiments by independently choosing tasks with at least two difficulty levels. Physiological signals from wearable electroencephalography, photoplethysmography, acceleration, electrodermal activity, and temperature sensors were recorded. The task-related perceived cognitive stress was collected using two 5-point Likert scales of self-reported mental workload and stress, contrasted by a pairwise NASA-TLX questionnaire. Additionally, the dataset includes a patient-reported list of seizure-provoking and -inhibiting factors. Results illustrated individual and heterogeneous responses to cognitive tasks, with some modalities yielding statistically significant features, while others demonstrated expected directional trends. The findings support the validity and suitability of the proposed dataset for cognitive stress detection and the potential to map seizure-related factors to cognitive stress events.},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
Epilepsy patients commonly report stress as a frequent seizure trigger; however, the objective seizure-stress relationship is unclear due to self-report biases and difficulty in objective quantification of stress. This work presents a dataset from twenty epilepsy patients undergoing cognitive stress elicitation protocols, participating in laboratory experiments with computer-based tasks at predefined difficulty levels, and in situational experiments by independently choosing tasks with at least two difficulty levels. Physiological signals from wearable electroencephalography, photoplethysmography, acceleration, electrodermal activity, and temperature sensors were recorded. The task-related perceived cognitive stress was collected using two 5-point Likert scales of self-reported mental workload and stress, contrasted by a pairwise NASA-TLX questionnaire. Additionally, the dataset includes a patient-reported list of seizure-provoking and -inhibiting factors. Results illustrated individual and heterogeneous responses to cognitive tasks, with some modalities yielding statistically significant features, while others demonstrated expected directional trends. The findings support the validity and suitability of the proposed dataset for cognitive stress detection and the potential to map seizure-related factors to cognitive stress events.
Steininger, Melissa; Marquardt, Alexander; Perusquía-Hernández, Monica; Lehnort, Marvin; Otsubo, Hiromu; Dollack, Felix; Kruijff, Ernst; Krüger, Björn; Kiyokawa, Kiyoshi; Riecke, Bernhard E.
The Awe-some Spectrum: Self-Reported Awe Varies by Eliciting Scenery and Presence in Virtual Reality, and the User's Nationality Proceedings Article
In: 2025 IEEE International Symposium on Mixed and Augmented Reality (ISMAR), pp. 1267-1277, 2025.
@inproceedings{steininger2025c,
title = {The Awe-some Spectrum: Self-Reported Awe Varies by Eliciting Scenery and Presence in Virtual Reality, and the User's Nationality},
author = {Melissa Steininger and Alexander Marquardt and Monica Perusquía-Hernández and Marvin Lehnort and Hiromu Otsubo and Felix Dollack and Ernst Kruijff and Björn Krüger and Kiyoshi Kiyokawa and Bernhard E. Riecke},
doi = {10.1109/ISMAR67309.2025.00132},
year = {2025},
date = {2025-11-11},
urldate = {2025-10-01},
booktitle = {2025 IEEE International Symposium on Mixed and Augmented Reality (ISMAR)},
pages = {1267-1277},
abstract = {Awe is a multifaceted emotion often associated with the perception of vastness, that challenges existing mental frameworks. Despite its growing relevance in affective computing and psychological research, awe remains difficult to elicit and measure.
This raises the research questions of how awe can be effectively elicited, which factors are associated with the experience of awe, and whether it can reliably be measured using biosensors.
For this study, we designed ten immersive Virtual Reality (VR) scenes with dynamic transitions from narrow to vast environments. These scenes were used to explore how awe relates to environmental features (abstract, human-made, nature), personality traits, and country of origin. We collected skin conductance, respiration data, and self-reported awe and presence from participants from Germany, Japan, and Jordan.
Our results indicate that self-reported awe varies significantly across countries and scene types. In particular, a scene depicting outer space elicited the strongest awe. Scenes that elicited high self-reported awe also induced a stronger sense of presence. However, we found no evidence that awe ratings are correlated with physiological responses.
These findings challenge the assumption that awe is reliably reflected in autonomic arousal and underscore the importance of cultural and perceptual context.
Our study offers new insights into how immersive VR can be designed to elicit awe, and suggests that subjective reports—rather than physiological signals—remain the most consistent indicators of emotional impact.},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {inproceedings}
}
Awe is a multifaceted emotion often associated with the perception of vastness, that challenges existing mental frameworks. Despite its growing relevance in affective computing and psychological research, awe remains difficult to elicit and measure.
This raises the research questions of how awe can be effectively elicited, which factors are associated with the experience of awe, and whether it can reliably be measured using biosensors.
For this study, we designed ten immersive Virtual Reality (VR) scenes with dynamic transitions from narrow to vast environments. These scenes were used to explore how awe relates to environmental features (abstract, human-made, nature), personality traits, and country of origin. We collected skin conductance, respiration data, and self-reported awe and presence from participants from Germany, Japan, and Jordan.
Our results indicate that self-reported awe varies significantly across countries and scene types. In particular, a scene depicting outer space elicited the strongest awe. Scenes that elicited high self-reported awe also induced a stronger sense of presence. However, we found no evidence that awe ratings are correlated with physiological responses.
These findings challenge the assumption that awe is reliably reflected in autonomic arousal and underscore the importance of cultural and perceptual context.
Our study offers new insights into how immersive VR can be designed to elicit awe, and suggests that subjective reports—rather than physiological signals—remain the most consistent indicators of emotional impact.
This raises the research questions of how awe can be effectively elicited, which factors are associated with the experience of awe, and whether it can reliably be measured using biosensors.
For this study, we designed ten immersive Virtual Reality (VR) scenes with dynamic transitions from narrow to vast environments. These scenes were used to explore how awe relates to environmental features (abstract, human-made, nature), personality traits, and country of origin. We collected skin conductance, respiration data, and self-reported awe and presence from participants from Germany, Japan, and Jordan.
Our results indicate that self-reported awe varies significantly across countries and scene types. In particular, a scene depicting outer space elicited the strongest awe. Scenes that elicited high self-reported awe also induced a stronger sense of presence. However, we found no evidence that awe ratings are correlated with physiological responses.
These findings challenge the assumption that awe is reliably reflected in autonomic arousal and underscore the importance of cultural and perceptual context.
Our study offers new insights into how immersive VR can be designed to elicit awe, and suggests that subjective reports—rather than physiological signals—remain the most consistent indicators of emotional impact.
Mustafa, Sarah Al-Haj; Jansen, Anna; Steininger, Melissa; Müllers, Johannes; Surges, Rainer; Wrede, Randi; Krüger, Björn; Helmstaedter, Christoph
Eyes on Cognition: Exploring Oculomotor Correlates of Cognitive Function in Patients with Epilepsy Journal Article
In: Epilepsy & Behavior, vol. 173, iss. December 2025, no. 110562, 2025.
@article{alhaj2025,
title = {Eyes on Cognition: Exploring Oculomotor Correlates of Cognitive Function in Patients with Epilepsy},
author = {Sarah Al-Haj Mustafa and Anna Jansen and Melissa Steininger and Johannes Müllers and Rainer Surges and Randi Wrede and Björn Krüger and Christoph Helmstaedter},
doi = {10.1016/j.yebeh.2025.110562},
year = {2025},
date = {2025-06-30},
urldate = {2025-06-30},
journal = {Epilepsy & Behavior},
volume = {173},
number = {110562},
issue = {December 2025},
abstract = {Objective
This study investigates the relationship between eye tracking parameters and cognitive performance during the Trail Making Test (TMT) in individuals with epilepsy and healthy controls. By analyzing ocular behaviors such as saccade velocity, fixation duration, and pupil diameter, we aim to determine how these metrics reflect executive functioning and attentional control.
Methods
A sample of 95 participants with epilepsy and 34 healthy controls completed the TMT while their eye movements were recorded. Partial correlations, controlling for age, sex, education, medication count, seizure status and epilepsy duration, examined associations between eye tracking measures and cognitive performance derived from EpiTrack and TMT performance.
Results In the patient group, faster TMT-A performance was associated with shorter fix- ation durations (r = 0.31},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
Objective
This study investigates the relationship between eye tracking parameters and cognitive performance during the Trail Making Test (TMT) in individuals with epilepsy and healthy controls. By analyzing ocular behaviors such as saccade velocity, fixation duration, and pupil diameter, we aim to determine how these metrics reflect executive functioning and attentional control.
Methods
A sample of 95 participants with epilepsy and 34 healthy controls completed the TMT while their eye movements were recorded. Partial correlations, controlling for age, sex, education, medication count, seizure status and epilepsy duration, examined associations between eye tracking measures and cognitive performance derived from EpiTrack and TMT performance.
Results In the patient group, faster TMT-A performance was associated with shorter fix- ation durations (r = 0.31
This study investigates the relationship between eye tracking parameters and cognitive performance during the Trail Making Test (TMT) in individuals with epilepsy and healthy controls. By analyzing ocular behaviors such as saccade velocity, fixation duration, and pupil diameter, we aim to determine how these metrics reflect executive functioning and attentional control.
Methods
A sample of 95 participants with epilepsy and 34 healthy controls completed the TMT while their eye movements were recorded. Partial correlations, controlling for age, sex, education, medication count, seizure status and epilepsy duration, examined associations between eye tracking measures and cognitive performance derived from EpiTrack and TMT performance.
Results In the patient group, faster TMT-A performance was associated with shorter fix- ation durations (r = 0.31
Greß, Hannah; Demidova, Elena; Meier, Michael; Krüger, Björn
SecureNeuroAI: Advanced Security Framework for AI-Powered Multimodal Real-Time Detection of Medical Seizure Events Proceedings Article
In: Ohm, Marc (Ed.): Proceedings of the 15th graduate workshop of the special interest group Security - Intrusion Detection and Response (SIDAR) of the German Informatics Society (GI) (SPRING 2025), pp. 22-24, GI SIG SIDAR, Nuremberg, April, 2025, ISSN: 2190-846X.
@inproceedings{Greß2025,
title = {SecureNeuroAI: Advanced Security Framework for AI-Powered Multimodal Real-Time Detection of Medical Seizure Events},
author = {Hannah Greß and Elena Demidova and Michael Meier and Björn Krüger},
editor = {Marc Ohm},
url = {https://fg-sidar.gi.de/publikationen/sidar-reports},
issn = {2190-846X},
year = {2025},
date = {2025-05-12},
urldate = {2025-05-12},
booktitle = {Proceedings of the 15th graduate workshop of the special interest group Security - Intrusion Detection and Response (SIDAR) of the German Informatics Society (GI) (SPRING 2025)},
pages = {22-24},
publisher = {GI SIG SIDAR},
address = {Nuremberg, April},
abstract = {In today's interconnected world, medical devices are increasingly equipped with novel digital technologies and AI-powered methods to improve the users' quality of life.
Despite the increased possibilities and features these devices offer due to the technical progress, cyberattacks on medical devices will increase as well with possibly severe outcomes for the patients.
At the same time, AI-based technologies could help to detect and mitigate these attacks on medical systems and their data in real-time.
Therefore, our project "SecureNeuroAI" aims to detect epileptic seizures using multimodal sensor data and AI models while also considering possible cyberattacks on this system resulting in an IT-secure system.
Our results will serve as an example for future AI-supported medical devices and systems to enhance their security and to strengthen their trustworthiness towards their (future) users.},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {inproceedings}
}
In today's interconnected world, medical devices are increasingly equipped with novel digital technologies and AI-powered methods to improve the users' quality of life.
Despite the increased possibilities and features these devices offer due to the technical progress, cyberattacks on medical devices will increase as well with possibly severe outcomes for the patients.
At the same time, AI-based technologies could help to detect and mitigate these attacks on medical systems and their data in real-time.
Therefore, our project "SecureNeuroAI" aims to detect epileptic seizures using multimodal sensor data and AI models while also considering possible cyberattacks on this system resulting in an IT-secure system.
Our results will serve as an example for future AI-supported medical devices and systems to enhance their security and to strengthen their trustworthiness towards their (future) users.
Despite the increased possibilities and features these devices offer due to the technical progress, cyberattacks on medical devices will increase as well with possibly severe outcomes for the patients.
At the same time, AI-based technologies could help to detect and mitigate these attacks on medical systems and their data in real-time.
Therefore, our project "SecureNeuroAI" aims to detect epileptic seizures using multimodal sensor data and AI models while also considering possible cyberattacks on this system resulting in an IT-secure system.
Our results will serve as an example for future AI-supported medical devices and systems to enhance their security and to strengthen their trustworthiness towards their (future) users.
Khan, Umar; Riaz, Qaiser; Hussain, Mehdi; Zeeshan, Muhammad; Krüger, Björn
Towards Effective Parkinson’s Monitoring: Movement Disorder Detection and Symptom Identification Using Wearable Inertial Sensors Journal Article
In: Algorithms, vol. 18, no. 4, 2025, ISSN: 1999-4893.
@article{2025-khan,
title = {Towards Effective Parkinson’s Monitoring: Movement Disorder Detection and Symptom Identification Using Wearable Inertial Sensors},
author = {Umar Khan and Qaiser Riaz and Mehdi Hussain and Muhammad Zeeshan and Björn Krüger},
url = {https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4893/18/4/203},
doi = {10.3390/a18040203},
issn = {1999-4893},
year = {2025},
date = {2025-04-04},
urldate = {2025-01-01},
journal = {Algorithms},
volume = {18},
number = {4},
abstract = {Parkinson’s disease lacks a cure, yet symptomatic relief can be achieved through various treatments. This study dives into the critical aspect of anomalous event detection in the activities of daily living of patients with Parkinson’s disease and the identification of associated movement disorders, such as tremors, dyskinesia, and bradykinesia. Utilizing the inertial data acquired from the most affected upper limb of the patients, this study aims to create an optimal pipeline for Parkinson’s patient monitoring. This study proposes a two-stage movement disorder detection and classification pipeline for binary classification (normal or anomalous event) and multi-label classification (tremors, dyskinesia, and bradykinesia), respectively. The proposed pipeline employs and evaluates manual feature crafting for classical machine learning algorithms, as well as an RNN-CNN-inspired deep learning model that does not require manual feature crafting. This study also explore three different window sizes for signal segmentation and two different auto-segment labeling approaches for precise and correct labeling of the continuous signal. The performance of the proposed model is validated on a publicly available inertial dataset. Comparisons with existing works reveal the novelty of our approach, covering multiple anomalies (tremors, dyskinesia, and bradykinesia) and achieving 93.03% recall for movement disorder detection (binary) and 91.54% recall for movement disorder classification (multi-label). We believe that the proposed approach will advance the field towards more effective and comprehensive solutions for Parkinson’s detection and symptom classification.},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
Parkinson’s disease lacks a cure, yet symptomatic relief can be achieved through various treatments. This study dives into the critical aspect of anomalous event detection in the activities of daily living of patients with Parkinson’s disease and the identification of associated movement disorders, such as tremors, dyskinesia, and bradykinesia. Utilizing the inertial data acquired from the most affected upper limb of the patients, this study aims to create an optimal pipeline for Parkinson’s patient monitoring. This study proposes a two-stage movement disorder detection and classification pipeline for binary classification (normal or anomalous event) and multi-label classification (tremors, dyskinesia, and bradykinesia), respectively. The proposed pipeline employs and evaluates manual feature crafting for classical machine learning algorithms, as well as an RNN-CNN-inspired deep learning model that does not require manual feature crafting. This study also explore three different window sizes for signal segmentation and two different auto-segment labeling approaches for precise and correct labeling of the continuous signal. The performance of the proposed model is validated on a publicly available inertial dataset. Comparisons with existing works reveal the novelty of our approach, covering multiple anomalies (tremors, dyskinesia, and bradykinesia) and achieving 93.03% recall for movement disorder detection (binary) and 91.54% recall for movement disorder classification (multi-label). We believe that the proposed approach will advance the field towards more effective and comprehensive solutions for Parkinson’s detection and symptom classification.