$1M in Department of Defense Grants

Cadence Biomedical, maker of the Kickstart Walking System that helps people with neurological conditions retrain their abilities to walk and regain their lives, today announced $1M in new grants from the Department of Defense’s (DOD) Joint Warfighter Medical Research Program. The new grant funds will be used to develop a new product to help amputees, and add a walking progress tracker to Kickstart.

“More than two million Americans suffer from severe mobility impairments and are underserved by the technology that’s currently on the market,” says Brian Glaister, CEO of Cadence. “We are so pleased that the Department of Defense has chosen to continue to support our efforts to help people with disabilities walk again and rediscover the activities they used to love to do.”

The Kickstart Walking System is a comfortable, wearable device without batteries or electricity designed for individuals who have suffered a stroke, incomplete spinal cord injury or a number of other conditions. It has been available since September 2012, is prescribed by a physician and is custom fitted by an orthotist.

One grant will fund development of a progress tracker for Kickstart, which will help patients and their physical therapists develop customized therapy programs. A second grant will fund development of a new device that incorporates sensory feedback technology for amputees learning to walk again with prostheses.

“Neurological injuries such as stroke and spinal cord injury often result in severe weakness to the muscles of the leg that are crucial for mobility, as well as a loss of sensation, which is crucial for balance,” states Jim Lynskey, PT, Ph.D., Associate Professor at A.T. Still University in Mesa, Ariz. Lynskey is an expert on physical therapy and neurological impairment and will serve as a clinical investigator on the new Cadence grants.

“Kickstart is quickly becoming an important rehabilitation tool, thanks to its unique ability to assist the hip flexors, the muscle group that lifts and swings the leg through to complete a step. By developing sensory feedback, outcome tracking and sensory feedback technology, Cadence will be able to help more patients who may have given up any possibility to walk again, and help clinicians remotely monitor their progress to help tailor more effective training programs,” Lynskey says.