SBIR-STTR Award

The long-term goal of NeuroCom International, Inc. is to develop and market computerautomated systems for retraining posture and equilibrium functions in patients with a variety of disorders, including peripheral vestibular deficits, head injury, stroke, and age-related degenerative disorders. The proposed retraining system will be menu driven and operable by the patient under the supervision of a therapist. The protocols will help the patient learn to compensate for abnormal sensory interaction or movement coordination affecting posture. The quantitative measures provided will assist both therapist and patient in monitoring progress.The Phase I grant period will produce a detailed product description for a commercially feasible, automated retraining system. Specific goals include: (1) defining protocols to improve functional balance skills by retraining specific components of abnormal sensory and motor function; (2) defining the means to provide patients with necessary feedback information during retraining; (3) defining algorithms by which the difficulty and scope of protocols can be automatically adjusted as the patient's performance improves; (4) defining absolute measures of performance by which to score the patient in relation to himself and age-matched normals; and (5) identifying the mechanical, electronic, and computer hardware necessary to implement the automated retraining protocols.National Institute of Neurological and Communicative Disorders and Stroke (NINDS)

Our long term goal is to develop and market computer-automated systems for retraining posture and equilibrium functions in patients with a variety of disorders including peripheral vestibular deficits, head injury, stroke, and age-related degenerative disorders. The proposed retraining system will be menu-driven and operable by the patient under the supervision of a therapist. The protocols will help the patient learn to compensate for abnormal sensory interaction or movement coordination affecting posture. The quantitative measures provided will assist both therapist and patient in monitoring progress.The phase I grant period will produce a detailed product description for a commercially feasible, automated retraining system. Specific goals include: 1) Define protocols to improve functional balance skills by retraining specific components of abnormal sensory and motor function; 2) Define the means to provide patients with necessary feedback information during retraining; 3) Define algorythms by which the difficulty and scope of protocols can be automatically adjusted as the patient's performance improves; 4) Define absolute measures of performance by which to score the patient in relation to himself and age-matched normals; 5) Identify the mechanical, electronic, and computer hardware necessary to implement the automated retraining protocols.

Thesaurus Terms:
Aging Biomedical Systems Automated, Computer Assisted Patient Care Biomedical Systems Automated, Monitoring Devices Cerebrovascular Disorders, Stroke Computer, Design And Evaluation Of Computers (Incl. Hardw Ear Disorders, Labyrinth Disorders Education, Computer Assisted Instruction Health Care Services, Physical Therapy Health Care Services, Rehabilitation Nonpsychosocial Human, Clinical Information Processing And Control (Neural) Injuries, Head And Neck Nervous Disorders, Nerves Degeneration Sensory Feedback Sensory-Perceptual Processes, Proprioception Skeletal Movement, PostureNational Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS)