STTR Phase I: Robotic Leg Advancement Device

这个小型企业技术转移研究(STTR)第一阶段项目旨在开发一种新颖的智能设备，用于在接受物理治疗和康复的神经科患者群体中实现步态训练的自动化。这个项目的目标是创建一个物理上简单的机器人系统，它使用一个复杂的控制系统来智能地与管理步态训练的物理治疗师合作，以部分自动化这一过程。该系统的开发可能会为步态训练和理疗创造一种新的范式。这种设备将有可能极大地提高理疗师进行密集步态再训练的能力，这反过来可能会改善每年数十万患者的机动性。现有的步态训练自动化技术解决方案过于复杂和昂贵，市场渗透率很低，因此很少有患者从中受益。在这个项目中，将论证创造一种廉价的设备与物理治疗师合作进行步态训练的可行性。该项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力源于提高步态训练的经济性和结果的可能性。目前的步态康复方法依赖于体力劳动。治疗通常是2到3个病人同时进行，费用非常昂贵。我们建议的产品将使治疗各种神经疾病患者的成本效益更高，其中包括每年可从步态治疗中受益的约35万名中风患者。我们估计拟议产品的潜在市场规模约为3600万美元，但该设备也可能引领未来简单机器人消费产品的开发。

This Small Business Technology Transfer Research (STTR) Phase I project seeks to develop a novel, intelligent device for automation of gait training in the neurological patient population undergoing physical therapy and rehabilitation. The objective of this project is the creation of a physically simple robotic system, which uses a sophisticated control system to intelligently cooperate with the physical therapist administering gait training, to partially automate the process. The development of this system may lead to the creation of a new paradigm in gait training and physical therapy. This device will have the potential to greatly enhance the abilities of physical therapists to administer intensive gait retraining, and this in turn may lead to improved mobility in hundreds of thousands of patients every year. The existing technological solutions to automation of gait training are overly complex and costly, with very low market penetration, and as a result few patients benefit from them. During this project, the feasibility of creating an inexpensive device which will cooperate with the physical therapists in gait training will be demonstrated.The broader impact/commercial potential of this project stems from the possibility of enhancing both the economics and the outcomes of gait training. Current gait rehabilitation methods rely on manual labor. Therapy is often administered by 2 or 3 PTs at the same time, which is very costly. Our proposed product will make it more cost-effective to treat patients with a variety of neurological disorders, including some 350,000 stroke patients who could benefit from gait therapy every year. We estimate the size of the addressable market for the proposed product to be about $36 million, but this device may also lead do the development of simple robotic consumer products in the future.