CHARLES RIVER ANALYTICS, INC. — Department of Defense SBIR Phase II: DHA211-006

Description

Military service members are exposed to an array of challenging conditions and dangerous environments that can result in traumatic brain injuries (TBI) or musculoskeletal injuries (MSKI). Combined, TBI and MSKI significantly impact military operational readiness and present a significant burden on the military health system. TBI and MSKI can each present as disordered balance; however, their etiology is significantly different, and an incorrect diagnosis can complicate treatment. Traditional computerized dynamic posturography (CDP) systems provide the best means to assess the affected sensory system, but are large, immovable, expensive, and have limited utility outside of balance assessment. The military health system needs a portable, lightweight, and compact CDP system to replace existing assessment systems and provide new opportunities for individualized rehabilitation. In a Phase I SBIR effort, Charles River Analytics successfully developed a robust, capable, and feasible design for a Portable Posturography Platform for Optimized Sensory organization Testing, User-specific Rehabilitation, and Evaluation (P3OSTURE). In this subsequent Phase II effort, we propose to refine, advance, integrate, fabricate, and test a prototype of the P3OSTURE system. The P3OSTURE Phase II effort includes refinement of the: (1) portable posturography platform and custom hexapod drivetrain; (2) virtual reality environment module; (3) platform control and analysis module; (4) P3OSTURE Full-Stack Web Application and user interface; and (5) evaluation and demonstration of the prototype system for computerized dynamic posturography.