Background

There are over 37 million Americans over the age of 65. Many are able to walk, but they struggle with strenuous activities such as squatting and stair climbing because of leg atrophy and weight gain.  There are various devices designed to help with these problems, but they have various limitations. Walkers are passive solutions and are bulky and awkward to use. Wheelchairs cause already frail leg muscles to further atrophy. Furthermore, over 40 million Americans of all ages suffer from some form of arthritis. Traditional knee braces are limited in relieving these conditions. We believe that a motorized knee brace could reduce pain and increase mobility by removing load from the knee joint during high stress activities like stair climbing and squatting. The baby boomer generation has shown a strong interest in being active and independent, and it is likely they will pay a premium to preserve their mobility in their golden years.

KneeAid is perfectly positioned to bring this solution to market in the form of a motorized knee brace.  Serving this growing demographic is a gold mine opportunity to dramatically expand our customer base. Moreover, a motorized knee brace is no longer a pipedream. The following recent developments make a motorized knee brace feasible:

·        The reduced cost of microprocessors and related hardware

·        The increased availability of inexpensive and compact high power motors

·        The development of Li-ion batteries with sufficient power density to provide a lightweight and long-lasting mobile power supply.

 Proposed Idea

The elderly and people who have suffered serious knee trauma struggle with strenuous activities such as squatting and standing up afterwards. Current mechanical solutions are either very bulky or provide limited functionality. Our solution attempts to improve upon these inadequate designs. The idea is to provide powered assistance to the thigh and knee during the period of strenuous activity while squatting and stair-climbing. The assisting motion will be provided by a moment/lever arm connected to a motor attached at the knee. The amount of assist will be determined by the amount of applied pressure on the moment arm and foot and the angle of the knee. The resulting motion will be similar to that of an aiding hand catching or gently pushing on the thigh to help a person continue the activity without being too exhausted. However, it is essential that our device never assist more than necessary to prevent atrophy and deconditioning of the already weakened leg muscles.