I-Corps: Rehabilitation Technologies using Smart Insoles and a Smartphone for Treatment of Children with Idiopathic Toe Walking

这个I-Corps项目更广泛的影响/商业潜力是开发可穿戴技术进步，用于脚趾行走儿童（如特发性脚趾行走（ITW），脑瘫（CP）和自闭症儿童）的康复。这项由智能手机和智能鞋垫中的计算机视觉算法组成的拟议技术，可能使医疗保健界能够将广泛的步态评估作为临床决策过程的一部分。更广泛的长期影响是计算机视觉算法在步态缺陷患者的医疗诊断和足部接触评估中的适用性。此外，通过提供对大规模客观数据的访问，以前难以客观记录的脚趾行走期间的步态模式可能成为理解临床评估，康复和儿童护理的合适选择的基础。此外，由于5%的儿童被诊断为脚趾行走，因此潜在的产品可能适用于家庭干预。预计治疗脚趾行走儿童的护理成本可能会降低，生活质量可能会得到改善。这个I-Corps项目是基于计算机视觉算法的发展，用于使用智能鞋垫进行客观的步态评估和干预。所提出的技术具有潜在的社会效益和技术进步的脚趾行走康复。所提出的技术使用易于访问的智能手机应用程序，该应用程序可以客观地量化脚趾行走生物标志物和活动踝关节范围以用于临床决策。随着时间的推移，临床决策可能会得到加强，在检测更多的脚跟放置和有效治疗脚趾走路的儿童的微小改善的准确性增加。此外，所提出的系统可以用于识别和跟踪脚趾接触步骤，检测接触时的脚角度，以及治疗儿童的脚趾行走。这一努力的长期目标是通过用客观、信息丰富的评价和干预措施取代主观的临床评估，改善治疗结果和生活质量。将基于智能手机摄像头的步态分析与基于智能鞋垫的脚趾行走儿童康复相结合，可以通过提供有关足部进展的准确和客观信息并减少长期的疼痛，从而改变当前的临床实践。该奖项反映了NSF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进行评估，被认为值得支持审查标准。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project is the development of wearable technological advancements in the rehabilitation of children who toe walk (such as Idiopathic Toe Walking (ITW), Cerebral Palsy (CP) and children with autism). The proposed technology, consisting of computer vision algorithms in smartphones and smart shoe insoles, may enable the health care community to implement widespread gait evaluations as part of the clinical decision-making process. The long-term broader impact is the applicability of computer vision algorithms in medical diagnoses and foot contact assessment in patients with gait deficits. In addition, by providing access to large-scale objective data, gait patterns during toe walking that have previously been difficult to document objectively may become the basis for understanding the suitable options for clinical assessment, rehabilitation, and care of children. In addition, since 5% of children are diagnosed with toe walking, a potential product may have applications for home-based interventions. It is anticipated that cost of care for treating toe walking children may be reduced and quality of life may be improved.This I-Corps project is based on the development of computer vision algorithms for objective gait assessments and intervention using smart insoles. The proposed technology has potential for both societal benefits and technological advancements in rehabilitation for toe walking. The proposed technology uses a readily accessible smartphone application that may objectively quantify toe walking biomarkers and active ankle range for clinical decision-making. Over time, clinical decisions may be enhanced with increased accuracy in detecting more minor improvements in heel placements and efficient treatment of children who toe walk. In addition, the proposed system may be used to identify and track toe contact steps, detect foot angle at contact, and treat toe walking in children. The long-term objectives of this effort are to improve treatment outcomes and quality of life by replacing subjective clinical assessments with objective, information-rich evaluations and interventions. Integration of the smartphone camera-based gait analysis with smart insole based rehabilitation of children who toe walk may transform current clinical practice by providing accurate and objective information regarding foot progression and reducing the long-term cost of toe walking rehabilitation and care.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.