STTR Phase II: Monitor for Gait and Form Analytics

STTR 第二阶段：步态和形态分析监控

• 批准号: 2054577
• 负责人: R Swiger
• 金额: $ 99.9万
• 依托单位: eSens LLC
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Cooperative Agreement
• 财政年份: 2021
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2021-09-01 至 2024-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2054577&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: STTR; Phase; II; Monitor; Gait

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project is the ability to collect objective data on both pace and gait/foot strike to give a clear and detailed picture of how a person actually moves stride-by-stride outside of a laboratory. The initial market of college, high school and recreational runners represents a near-term opportunity with high demand and relatively low barriers to entry. Use of this technology in this market promises to improve runner performance by up to 20% and reduce running injuries. This overall serviceable available market is $776 million and growing annually at rate of 29%. After proving the technology in this near-term market, there is potential for the technology to achieve even greater societal benefit in gait analysis, including, enabling ongoing monitoring and prediction of gait and balance issues in Americans over age 65, 11.5 million of whom fall each year; and providing more accurate, dynamic data to offload foot pressure in diabetic patients, 1.8 million of whom sustain diabetic foot ulcers each year.This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project will advance a gait analysis device that combines a novel polymeric pressure sensing technology with an accelerometer and electronics to collect, process and visualize pace and gait/foot strike data. This innovative pressure sensing technology utilizes conductive polymeric materials and hybrid fabrication techniques to produce sensor arrays that are 100% solid state; as polymers they can be flexible, robust, and cost effective. Under the Phase I project, a sensor array was produced based on an optimized material formulation and sensor configuration, a printed circuit board and software were developed for use with the system, and a prototype was demonstrated with distance runners to prove it generates meaningful data. This SBIR Phase II project will complete development of the prototype and scale up hardware production.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

这个小企业创新研究（SBIR）二期项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力是能够收集步伐和步态/脚打击的客观数据，从而清晰详细地了解一个人在实验室之外是如何一步一步地实际移动的。最初的市场是大学、高中和休闲跑步者，这是一个短期的机会，需求高，进入门槛相对较低。在这个市场上使用这项技术有望将跑步者的表现提高20%，并减少跑步受伤。整个可用服务市场规模为7.76亿美元，并以每年29%的速度增长。在这个短期市场上证明了这项技术之后，这项技术有可能在步态分析方面取得更大的社会效益，包括对65岁以上美国人的步态和平衡问题进行持续监测和预测，其中每年有1150万人摔倒；并提供更准确、动态的数据来减轻糖尿病患者的足压力，每年有180万糖尿病患者患有糖尿病足溃疡。这项小型企业创新研究（SBIR）二期项目将推进一种步态分析设备，该设备将新型聚合物压力传感技术与加速度计和电子设备相结合，以收集、处理和可视化步伐和步态/脚击数据。这种创新的压力传感技术利用导电聚合物材料和混合制造技术来生产100%固态的传感器阵列；作为聚合物，它们具有柔韧性、坚固性和成本效益。在第一阶段项目中，基于优化的材料配方和传感器配置生产了传感器阵列，开发了用于系统的印刷电路板和软件，并与长跑运动员一起演示了原型，以证明它产生了有意义的数据。SBIR第二期项目将完成原型的开发并扩大硬件生产规模。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。