Pictured from left to right: Gaitbox & iMUp team representative Sarah Moninger; RESNA past President Jerry Weisman, MSME, ATP, RET
Researchers from Duke University recently won the TREAT prize for the “Technology Most Likely to Become Commercially Available” at the 2019 RESNA Developers Showcase, part of the RESNA (Rehabilitation Engineering and Assistive Technology Society of North America) annual conference held during the RehabWeek multiconference in Toronto, June 24-28, 2019.
Leighanne M. Davis, Kevin Caves, Sarah Moninger, and Sandy Throckmorton demonstrated two technologies to identify movement. The first, Gaitbox, is a low-cost gait speed monitor designed to quickly and accurately measure an individual’s walking speed in a clinical or research setting. The device specifically uses a LIDAR sensor and microcontroller to measure speed, which is then displayed on an LCD screen for copying into a chart or medical record. The second, iMUp, is an iOS-based mobile application that collects accelerometer data via two small Bluetooth enabled sensors worn on the chest and thigh. Machine learning algorithms are applied to the data to accurately monitor various posture positions (e.g. laying, reclining, sitting, standing, and walking). These devices provide ways to measure movement functions and monitor their improvement or decline and will be useful in both outpatient and hospital settings.
Nineteen products were displayed at the Developers Showcase and the event provided an opportunity for the innovators to receive feedback from experts in a variety of rehabilitation-related fields. The winning team is invited to utilize TREAT program resources to help accelerate development of both the technology and market potential of their device. “The Duke team has developed important clinical tools utilizing readily available technology. They were able to clearly articulate the need for these clinical tools and describe their robust design,” states Jerry Weisman, MSME, ATP, RET, member of the TREAT Leadership Team and past President of RESNA, who represented TREAT as a competition judge.
For more information about the RESNA Developers Showcase submission and prize winners visit: https://www.resna.org/news-events/annual-meeting/students/student-design-competition/2019-student-design-challenge
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