SBIR Phase II: An orthopedic device to assess joint mobility

这个小企业创新研究（SBIR）第二阶段项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力是开发一种工具来衡量联合流动性。有大量的骨科损伤和一个显着的需要，定量评估和治疗这些损伤。 早期尝试使用在20世纪80年代开发的大的、昂贵的和使用麻烦的装置来解决这个市场，现在市场上已经没有了。 从那时起，技术已经取得了显着的发展，正在开发的设备将证明它可以提供更好，更小，更便宜的解决方案，具有更大的骨科实用性。 该设备将是有价值的教育和临床场所。有超过820个教育项目，包括医学、脊椎按摩疗法、物理治疗、职业治疗和运动训练。 提供反馈的设备将支持关节移动专业人士;临床市场总数超过110万专业人士，预计未来十年将增长14-34%。 这些临床医生需要工具来量化技术，以提高骨科的实践。该设备将有助于转变收集关节测量程序数据的能力，以提供有关检查和治疗效果的文献，并开始开发“最佳实践”协议。该SBIR第二阶段项目提出开发一种骨科设备，以精确量化关节活动度。 申报器械能够量化关节松弛度，以促进损伤管理相关的临床决策，从而持续提供治疗，提高护理质量。 所提出的技术是一种用于临床医生的手和患者的关节之间的简单、便携且经济的装置的设计，以测量关节骨的线性位移。 将器械轴与指定关节对齐，导致器械远端组件在稳定的近端节段上平移。线性平移的显示立即出现。 该设备代表了关节运动学/线性评估的“首次上市”技术。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审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project is to develop a tool to measure joint mobility. There are a large number of orthopedic injuries and a significant need to quantitatively assess and treat these injuries. An earlier attempt to address this market using a large, expensive, and cumbersome to use device developed in the 1980's is no longer on the market. Since that time, technology has significantly evolved, and the device under development will demonstrate that it can provide a better, smaller, cheaper solution with greater orthopedic utility. This device will be valuable to both educational and clinical venues. There are over 820 educational programs in medicine, chiropractic, physical therapy, occupational therapy, and athletic training. A device to provide feedback will support joint mobility professionals; the clinical market totals over 1.1 M professionals with projected growth of 14-34% over the next decade. These clinicians need tools to quantify techniques to enhance the practice of orthopedics. This device will help to transform the ability to collect data on joint measurement procedures to provide literature on examination and treatment efficacy and begin to develop "best practice" protocols.This SBIR Phase II project proposes to develop an orthopedic device to precisely quantify joint mobility. The proposed device is able to quantify joint laxity to contribute to the clinical decision-making regarding injury management to consistently render therapeutic treatments, improving quality of care. The proposed technology is a design for a simple, portable, and economical device used between the hands of the clinician and the joint of the patient to measure the linear displacement of the joint's bones. Aligning the device's axis with the indicated joint results in translation of the device's distal component on the stabilized proximal segment. A display of the linear translation appears immediately. The device represents a "first-to-market" technology for arthrokinematic/linear assessment.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.