The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project is the increased mobility, and thereby, social integration for people with ankle control deficit. Mobility is associated with functional independence and participation in society. Sufficient ankle control plays a vital role in mobility. A significant portion of populations with neuromuscular disorders, such as children with cerebral palsy (CP) and post-stroke survivals, live with insufficient ankle control. Our design, DEAFO, is a soft mechanized brace to help these individuals to walk easier and longer. DEAFO will provide assistance and correction about the ankle while preventing discomfort, to promote mobility and improve the quality of life of the users. The project will first focus on the CP population (~700,000 in US), which is the most common motor disorder in children. CP's total economic burden, in direct and indirect costs, is $11.5 billion per year, in the US alone. A significant portion of this cost consists of assistive devices and physical training, needed due to insufficient ankle control. Hence, DEAFO will aim to provide both ankle assistance and physical training to promote motor recovery, which potentially decreases these costs over time. The company's ultimate goal is to expand DEAFO applications to post-stroke population (~8 million in US).
This I-Corps project will be the first light-weight, noiseless, soft, and mechanized ankle foot orthoses (AFO), that deploy dielectric elastomer (DE)-based artificial muscle. Thus, it is called DEAFO. Increased chance of falls, and inefficient walking speed, are major consequences of ankle-control deficit. Although this is a common disorder in a population of 8 to 10 million, the status of care for this pathology, usually, is a rudimentary, bulky, rigid uncomfortable AFO. Furthermore, the none-mechanized AFOs hold the ankle fixed at specific angles, and cause secondary problems, such as disuse atrophy of the muscles. DEAFO will be mechanized by dielectric elastomer (DE)-based artificial muscle. The novel DE actuators are soft, lightweight, compact, and acoustically noiseless, with muscle-like behaviors, which is benchmark tested in the company's lab. The softness and noiseless operation of these artificial muscles will substantially improve the comfort and natural feel of the device in comparison with other mechanized AFOs. Unlike most mechanized AFOs, the controller that will drive the artificial muscles in the device has been specifically developed and evaluated for pathological walking and showed 100% detection reliability in children with CP. This project can revolutionize the status of care for ankle-control deficit.
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.
