This Small Business Technology Transfer Research (STTR) Phase I project seeks to develop a novel, intelligent device for automation of gait training in the neurological patient population undergoing physical therapy and rehabilitation. The objective of this project is the creation of a physically simple robotic system, which uses a sophisticated control system to intelligently cooperate with the physical therapist administering gait training, to partially automate the process. The development of this system may lead to the creation of a new paradigm in gait training and physical therapy. This device will have the potential to greatly enhance the abilities of physical therapists to administer intensive gait retraining, and this in turn may lead to improved mobility in hundreds of thousands of patients every year. The existing technological solutions to automation of gait training are overly complex and costly, with very low market penetration, and as a result few patients benefit from them. During this project, the feasibility of creating an inexpensive device which will cooperate with the physical therapists in gait training will be demonstrated. The broader impact/commercial potential of this project stems from the possibility of enhancing both the economics and the outcomes of gait training. Current gait rehabilitation methods rely on manual labor. Therapy is often administered by 2 or 3 PTs at the same time, which is very costly. Our proposed product will make it more cost-effective to treat patients with a variety of neurological disorders, including some 350,000 stroke patients who could benefit from gait therapy every year. We estimate the size of the addressable market for the proposed product to be about $36 million, but this device may also lead do the development of simple robotic consumer products in the future.
