SBIR Phase I: SBIR Phase I:Autonomous Balance-Enhanced Insert for Footwear

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) project will contribute to development of a novel Balance-Enhancing Footwear Insert for preventing falls in the high risk elderly population. Falls are the leading cause of fatal injuries and the most common reason for trauma-related hospital admissions among older adults. One in every four Americans over age of 65 falls each year, and the financial burden from the falls in the elderly is expected to reach $67B by 2020. Therefore, introduction of a smart insole might significantly reduce the financial burden for the Medical Care System. It will also allow the elderly population to achieve maximum independence in the activities of daily living. The proposed insole will also address the critical needs of the athletic shoe industry to reduce the incidents of ankle sprains. The development of the new smart balance?enhancing insole, which improves balance without irritation and habituation effects will likely lead to new fabrication techniques for manufacturing insoles. This SBIR innovation has the potential to introduce to the market a safe, reliable and cost-effective insole that could be easily manufactured and distributed. This SBIR Phase I project proposes to develop a novel insole to facilitate proper and timely response to a person?s movements in order to maintain good balance while walking or standing. The plantar sole is a ?dynamometric map? of human balance control. The loss of balance occurs when the body weight is shifted too close to the plantar sole boundary. The timely information to the Central Nervous System (CNS) about such movements is critical for balance control. The proposed insert, with a system of microcells containing viscous fluid, triggers instantaneous rise of protrusions around the insole perimeter area in response to the sudden increase of pressure that excites the mechanoreceptors reporting to the CNS. Such a balance-enhancing solution provides well-timed regional amplification of cutaneous mechanoreceptor sensitivity but without the side effects of the existing textured insoles. The shortcomings include permanent discomfort and irritation in the plantar sole, which results in desensitization of the sole somatosensory system. The main research objectives include: Engineering design of the insert; research of materials to meet the performance goals; identification of the manufacturers for future mass production; creating testing frameworks to insure performance according to the required specifications. 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.