Soair, LLC — Department of Agriculture SBIR Phase I: 8.6

Description

Soair's technology captures and analyzes detailed gait and stride metrics and provides a Fall-Risk Assessment score. This automated technology is accurate, passive, non-intrusive, and low cost, which means it is ideal for use in rural residential and assisted living settings.Fall-related injuries and health issues stemming from falls are major concerns for seniors and their caregivers. Not only do falls often reduce the quality of life for a senior, but the financial burden placed on the families and health care system is over 30 billion dollars per year. This issue is amplified in rural America because spatial factors, such a distance to care and availability of transportation, reduce health care utilization.Soair is bridging the gap between the lab and the home by bringing precise gait and stride measurement to underserved rural Americans. This technology will work via standard wifi or mobile connection and will deliver real time Fall-Risk Assessment scores as well as provide analysis of long term trends in stability, mobility, and general activity levels.The patient, family members, caregivers, and medical team will be able to access this data, and prompt preventive care interventions can be made.Phase I will consist of 1. identifying the demographic and housing-type breakdown of the Mississippi Delta region and 2. performing site visits in residences to determine the optimal design for the in-home prototype. These insights will be incorporated into development of the beta product that will be used for in-home testing in Phase II.