Rehabilitative Technologies that Monitor Metabolic Demands of Prosthetics in Lower Extremity Amputees during Rehabilitation

In this phase I SBIR project, BioSensics will partner with Ranchos Los Amigos Rehabilitation Center to develop, implement and evaluate a novel technology to monitor metabolic demands of energy expenditure during Activity of Daily Living (ADL) in amputees. The proposed technology is based on objective evaluation of the required locomotion and movement of prosthetic foot that will be obtained from the lower extremity kinematic data gathered in real time. The system is based on miniaturized sensors that can be integrated into commercial lower extremities prosthetic devices. The system will allow accurate measurement of gait speed, range of motion of center of mass (COM) in medial-lateral & anterior-posterior directions, and surface inclination. The energy expenditure will be estimated during ADL and in real time based on the calculated kinematic data and locomotion parameters mentioned above. In Phase I, clinical studies will be carried out to validate the system and to identify the key parameters that contribute to the overall metabolic demand of amputees.