Wrist-worn Sensors for Tele-Rehabilitation of the Hemiparetic Upper-Extremity

DESCRIPTIONprovided by applicantWrist worn Sensors for Tele Rehabilitation of the Hemiparetic Upper ExtremityStroke and other causes of central nervous system damage can result in debilitating loss of motor control that is often more pronounced in one limb than the otherUsing or attempting to use the affected limb during activities of daily livingdespite considerable difficultystimulates neuroplasticity and motor function recoveryBioSensicsin partnership with the Motion Analysis Laboratory at Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospitalwill develop wrist worn sensors for motor retraining after strokeOur simple technology will encourage affected limb use during the performance of activities of daily livingwill remind patients to perform daily prescribed motor control exercises in the home environmentand will assess the quality of limb movement during these exercisesWe hypothesize that adding long term monitoring and biofeedback using wrist worn sensors to traditional therapies will improve motor ability following strokeparticularly in cases where a high dosage of physical and occupational therapy is not feasible due to insurance coveragelack of transportationgeographyor other limiting factorsThe proposed device is the only telehealth system designed to encourage usage of the affected limb during activities of daily livingMany technologies exist to remotely monitor movement using wearable sensorsbut none address the specific needs of patients with hemiparesisThereforethere is a significant opportunity to develop a first to market technology in this spaceThe team we have assembled for this collaborative project includes engineerscliniciansand scientists from BioSensicsa privately held biomedical technology development companyand Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospitalthe largest provider of rehabilitation medicine in New EnglandDuring Phase I of this Fast Track SBIR project we will develop the wrist worn sensors and test algorithms for assessing the quality and quantity of upper limb movement in the home environment based on acceleration measured by these sensorsDuring Phase II we will develop the telehealth infrastructure for the proposed systemincluding a home base station that receives daily movement summaries from the wrist worn sensors and uploads the data via WiFi or LAN to a HIPAA compliant serverand a website that clinicians can use to visualize data and remotely set patient specific exercise regimens and activity goalsWe will also conduct a usability study and a clinical study at Spaulding Rehabilitation HospitalThe clinical study will compare rehabilitation outcomes betweenpatients with upper extremity hemiparesis following stroke who receive standard care and supplemental home based therapy andpatients who receive the same intervention but use the proposed systemThere is a significant commercialization potential for the proposed technology due tothe size of the marketthe disruptive nature of our first to market technologyandthe ongoing national push for a transition from the current feefor service healthcare model to accountable care organization standardsWe will have a market ready device by the completion of Phase II with plans for a market launch during Phase IIIpending FDA approval