Reducing Gait Asymmetry in Lower-LImb Amputees Using Real-Time Rehab to Train-to-

描述（由申请人提供）：这个小型企业创新研究第一阶段项目旨在通过使用无线仪器和智能手机技术向截肢者反馈他们在现场的实时表现，来证明一种用于家庭环境中康复的新型设备的可行性。Veristride的使命是改善行走障碍者（5.2%的美国18-64岁成年人）的行动能力和生活质量。“实时康复”为患者的日常生活提供了一种新的康复模式。这与当前的康复技术形成了鲜明对比，后者希望患者自己继续学习练习，这是一种开环程序，其疗效和可持续性值得怀疑，因为就诊次数受到医疗保健费用增加的限制。可供选择的方法是基于临床的，能力有限，和/或过于昂贵。这个第一阶段的建议针对下肢截肢者人群，因为很少有解决截肢者步态不对称的措施，现有的干预措施一般是定性的和/或基于临床的改善步态对称。现代康复过程在肢体切除后立即开始，并使用各种活动来提高肌肉力量和运动技能，恢复日常活动，并提高独立性，但未能定量解决

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project seeks to demonstrate the feasibility of a novel device for rehabilitation in the home environment, by using wireless instrumentation and smartphone technology for feedback to amputees about their real-time performance in situ. The mission of Veristride is to improve the mobility and quality of life of persons with ambulatory disabilities (5.2% of U.S. adults ages 18-64). "Real-Time Rehab" provides a new paradigm for rehabilitation that occurs throughout the patient's daily life. This is in contrast to current rehabilitation techniques that expect patientsto continue learned exercises on their own, an open-loop procedure of questionable efficacy and sustainability, as visits to the clinic are limited by increasing costs of healthcare. Alternative approaches are clinic-based, limited in capability, and/or prohibitively expensive. This Phase I proposal targets the lower-limb amputee population because little has been done to address gait asymmetry in amputees, with existing interventions to improve gait symmetry generally qualitative and/or clinic-based. The modern rehabilitation process begins immediately following the removal of the limb and uses a variety of activities to improve muscle strength and motor skills, restore daily activities, and improve independence, but fails to quantitatively address the typical force and timing asymmetries beyond symptom relief and treatment of conditions (e.g. arthritis) once they occur. Loss of a limb results in decreased proprioception, which is the sense of where limbs are in space. We hypothesize that amputees can more readily make improvements in their gait and mobility with access technology capable of proprioceptive feedback anytime and anywhere to enhance the impaired by disability. Veristride, Inc. is a new company formed out of the University of Utah. It was recently formed to explicitly address the need for affordable and personal rehabilitative devices for persons with mobility disabilities. The PI and CSO Stacy Bamberg received her bachelor's and master's degrees in mechanical engineering at MIT. She subsequently expanded her training through medical school courses and clinical experiences, receiving her doctorate in medical engineering from the Harvard/MIT Div. of Health Sciences and Technology. Her expertise includes designing, validating, and using sensors and instrumentation to evaluate human physiological conditions, specifically for gait and movement analysis, and she has been implementing sensors in shoes for more than a decade.