A novel air microfluidics technology - enabling active compression apparels for treating lymphedema, edema and muscle recovery for strenuous work and exercise

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Breast cancer related lymphedema. dependent edema, a secondary condition in individuals with spinal cord injury, and muscle injuries due to strenuous work/heavy exercise affect millions of people every year by diminishing the quality of life. Medical treatments for these problems are expensive often involving manual massaging the affected limb to help reduce tissue swelling and improve blood circulation followed by bandaging further reducing swelling or lifting the muscle. It is in high demand to develop affordable at-home compression therapy such as wearable systems with intermittent pneumatic compression mimicking the manual massaging. The global compression therapy market was valued at USD 3.1 billion in 2019 and USD 4.2 billion by 2025. The state-of-the-art technologies present trade-offs between performance, affordability and portability due to the need for the same number of electromechanical valves as the air bladders for compression.This research team has developed a novel air microfluidics powered technology which is capable of addressing the trade-off dilemma. The core technology is a microfluidic chip with a network of micro- and mini-channels enabling sequential inflation of an array of air bladder actuators which can be integrated into apparels to actively pressurize the affected limb. Feedback from our external partners including Haley Rehab, Praxis Spinal Cord Institute, Myant Inc. and the Armoury Sports Medicine suggest the need for individual control of the air bladders with a pressure-holding feature, which will be one of the key objectives for the proposed project together with other improvements such as optimizing the chip for slow and fast compression, increasing the system durability and streamlining production to reduce cost. Preliminary testing of these proposed improvements in promising applications (treatment/management of lymphedema and musculoskeletal conditions) will be performed in collaboration with our partners/potential customers. The results of the planned beta trials and application testing will help establish target market vertical(s), timing of a possible startup company's creation, and a go-to-market strategy.