Sensor Ankle Brace for Special Operations Rehabilitation

A highly-capable fighting force is the most important aspect of readiness.The Air Force is making strides to increase its pool of potential recruits, including loosening body fat requirements. Male and female recruits may now enter service with a Body Mass Index (BMI) of 26 and 36, respectively (increased from 20 and 28). This is expected to qualify up to 100 additional aspiring airmen each month– but this pool of applicants is at greater risk for musculoskeletal injuries (MSKIs) during training.  Injured trainees are ultimately 3x as likely to be discharged entirely at a total cost to the Air Force of  $43,567 a piece– with zero return on investment.,    MSKI is the primary reason for non-deployability with 12% of service members sidelined for these injuries and accounting for 34% of all medical discharges from the Air Force alone. Ankle injuries in particular occur 5x more often in the military population than their civilian counterparts with 1.5 million service member ankle injuries each year making it the second most common MSKI. Rehabilitation Care Teams create methodical treatment protocols in order to minimize the recovery time and strengthen the injured joint to ensure airmen are fit to fight. Poor compliance, however, is leading to additional time away from duty and greatly contributing to the 44% ankle re-injury rate across the military.  Strict adherence and compliance to the prescribed treatment protocol greatly reduces recovery time and leads to optimal patient outcomes. Remote patient monitoring (RPM) to improve treatment protocol adherence is one of the most easily correctable hurdles in all of healthcare when it comes to improving patient outcomes.     TayCo Brace, Inc.  is pioneering the next generation ankle brace to expedite functional recovery following ankle and hindfoot injuries. Born from real-life experience treating injured collegiate athletes, the TayCo external ankle brace (XAB) is a hinged-stirrup brace applied outside the shoe which offers quick application options during high-intensity and fast-paced activities where downtime is not an option– unlike conventional lace-up ankle braces worn inside the shoe. It can be applied immediately after injury allowing tactical athletes and service members to safely continue game play, training, and combat activities. Developing “smart” sensor additions on the current TayCo XAB will inspire improved patient compliance, data-driven treatment options, reduced recovery times, and overall improved healthcare outcomes for service members, both short- and long-term.  Ensuring rehabilitation compliance and, if necessary, intervening quickly before re-injury can occur-- saving valuable training time, reducing costs of re-injury, and protecting the future human capital of the Air Forc.