I-Corps: A Novel Knee Sleeve that Provides Dynamic Motion Restraint to Abnormal Loading

I-Corps项目更广泛的影响/商业潜力是开发循证干预措施，以降低与膝关节松弛相关的肌肉骨骼损伤风险。膝关节损伤占体力活动者和军人所有急性肌肉骨骼损伤的50%，可导致大量医疗费用和生活质量下降。个人（尤其是年轻女性）膝关节松弛程度越高，在运动中稳定膝关节就越困难，膝关节韧带损伤的风险也越大。因此，从损伤预防和康复的角度来看，加强关节过度松弛患者的功能性关节稳定性的治疗干预是非常必要的。提出的创新旨在通过设计外部膝关节支撑来满足这一关键需求，以增强关节保护并确保在身体活动期间不超过安全运动限制。当受伤发生时，该技术也可用于在韧带愈合期间保护和支持膝盖。该技术可以作为一个独立的保护装置，但理想情况下，将与综合损伤预防或康复神经肌肉训练计划结合使用，以增加膝关节的功能稳定性。I-Corps的这个项目是基于一种膝关节支架的开发，这种支架是根据个人的膝关节松弛情况定制的，当达到规定的阈值时，可以提供动态的运动限制。虽然市场上很容易买到外部膝关节支架，但最初的客户发现研究表明，市场上专注于损伤预防和膝关节过度松弛治疗的设备存在空白。项目活动将：1)验证所提出的技术解决了伤害预防和康复方面的重要差距的假设，2)巩固了将从该技术中获益最多的目标市场和客户，3)完善了外部膝关节支撑的价值主张，包括痛点是什么，以及期望的功能和性能特征是什么，从而提高了感知价值。这项工作还将促进对护膝行业的了解，包括主要制造商、分销模式，以及基于客户目前购买、推荐或处方的其他设备的潜在价格点。将这项创新应用于身体其他关节的潜力也将被探索。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。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project is the development of evidence-based interventions to reduce the risk of musculoskeletal injury associated with greater knee joint laxity. Knee injuries account for ~50% of all acute musculoskeletal injuries in physically active individuals and military personnel and can result in substantial health care costs and reduced quality of life. Individuals (particularly young females) who have greater knee joint laxity have more difficulty in stabilizing the knee during sport activity and have a greater risk of knee ligament injury. Thus, therapeutic interventions that enhance functional joint stability in those with excessive joint laxity are critically needed from both an injury prevention and rehabilitation standpoint. The proposed innovation is intended to fulfill this critical need by designing an external knee support to enhance joint protection and ensure safe motion limits are not exceeded during physical activity. When injury does occur, the technology also may be used to protect and support the knee while ligaments are healing. The technology may function as a stand-alone protective device but, ideally, would be used in conjunction with a comprehensive injury prevention or rehabilitation neuromuscular training program designed to increase functional stability of the knee. This I-Corps project is based on the development of a knee support that is customized to an individual’s knee laxity profile to provide dynamic motion limits when prescribed thresholds are reached. While external knee supports are readily available on the market, initial customer discovery research suggests a gap in the market for devices focused on injury prevention and the treatment of excessive knee joint laxity. Project activities will: 1) test the hypothesis that the proposed technology addresses an important gap in injury prevention and rehabilitation, 2) solidify the target market and customers who would most benefit from the technology, and 3) refine the value proposition of external knee supports, including what the pain points are, and what the desired features and performance characteristics are that would enhance the perceived value. This effort also will advance knowledge of the knee brace industry including key manufacturers, modes of distribution, and potential price points based on other devices customers currently purchase or recommend or are prescribed to them. The potential to apply this innovation to other joints of the body also will be explored.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.