Chapel Hill, N.C. - There is no known cure for osteoarthritis, but one UNC School of Medicine researcher is working to revolutionize rehabilitation for individuals with the disease.
Jason Franz, PhD, professor of biomedical engineering at the UNC School of Medicine, and collaborator Brian Pietrosimone, PhD, UNC professor of exercise and sports science, recently received a $400,000 grant from NCInnovation to advance their team's work to create a wearable system that can detect and treat harmful walking patterns linked to the early signs of knee osteoarthritis and mobility problems.
Their research labs have sophisticated force sensors and motion capture equipment that are unavailable to physical therapists and their patients, but this new grant can open the door to better accessibility.
"Receiving this grant will allow us to develop an alternative - a low-cost wearable sensing and machine learning platform capable of putting these pivotal discoveries in the hands of physical therapists, thereby enhancing the health and well-being of individuals with hip and knee osteoarthritis," said Franz.
Instead of needing specialized equipment or a specialist appointment, people can wear a small portable device during everyday walking. The system analyzes movement patterns and flags subtle changes linked to early-stage osteoarthritis. It then provides guidance backed by science to encourage healthier walking patterns toward healthier joints. This gives patients and clinicians an objective way to help prevent long-term disability. This is especially important in rural areas where access to specialized technology is limited.
"With this two-year NC Innovation project, we are positioned to deliver fully-functioning prototype systems to five regional physical therapy clinics, helping us move our research prototype to something being tried and evaluated in real clinical settings," said Franz. "In addition, by working closely with experts in entrepreneurship and commercialization, we will accelerate our path toward introducing this technology to the market, attracting follow-on investment and advance our university spin-off company to bolster genuine impact here in North Carolina."
Franz and his team will use the NC Innovation funding to refine and prepare the technology for broad clinical use. Their goal is to make detection and treatment affordable and accessible-so fewer North Carolinians have to live with chronic joint pain that could have been managed sooner or more effectively.
"Dr. Franz's technology could help physical therapists better identify and treat early-stage osteoarthritis, which afflicts millions of Americans," said Michelle Bolas, NCInnovation's interim CEO. "NCInnovation helps universities advance research with just this kind of real-world application, strengthening the university-to-industry pipeline that's central to American competitiveness."
NC Innovation also awarded a grant to Dr. Franz's colleague in the Lampe Joint Department of Biomedical Engineering at UNC-Chapel Hill and NC State University. Ashley Brown, PhD, assistant professor, received funding for synthetic platelet technology that her lab has designed to speed wound healing and reduce bleeding. The technology shows potential for use in medical, emergency, and military settings.
