Friday, July 18, 2008

MIT iShoe invention corrects imbalances

By Mass High Tech Staff

MIT graduate student Erez Lieberman has designed a high-tech insole that could help doctors detect balance problems before a person falls.

Lieberman has started a company called iShoe to commercialize technology that could help people keep their balance. Lieberman, a graduate student in the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology, is testing the iShoe on a small group of patients. The current model is designed only to diagnose balance problems, but future versions could help correct such problems by providing sensory stimulation to the feet when the wearer is off-kilter.

The device measures and analyzes the pressure distribution of the patient’s foot and reports back to a doctor. The device could also be outfitted with an alarm that would alert family members when a fall has occurred.

Lieberman designed the device while he was an intern at NASA. The iShoe team members have applied for a patent on the technology, which would be jointly held by MIT, Harvard and NASA. Lieberman originally developed the technology to help monitor balance problems in astronauts returning from space. In April, the company won a $50,000 grant from the Lunar Ventures Competition.

Another local startup, BosteQ Inc., was founded in 2006 by researchers from Boston University and the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary. BosTeq is developing a belt and socks equipped with systems to help people stay balanced.

Almost 300,000 Americans suffered hip fractures after a fall, and an average of 24 percent of hip-fracture patients aged 50 and over die in the year following the fracture, according to the National Osteoporosis Foundation.