Harvard and Boston University have been awarded a $3 million grant to support the development of next-generation robotics and wearable technologies. The funding will support four research projects within a broader initiative to commercialize research that can protect physical abilities against injury, extend them beyond the limits of advancing age, and restore them to people who have lost them. They include:
- An ankle device for home or community-based gait training after stroke;
- New sensing and diagnostic approaches for high-dose/high-frequency rehab at home that can be enabled for a soft robotic glove;
- A lower-limb neuroprosthesis for electrical stimulation of muscles; and
- Wearable sensors and algorithms for strength and movement assessment by medical and fitness professionals.
Led by the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, the project involves a collaboration with Boston University College of Health & Rehabilitation Sciences: Sargent College, as well as industry partners ReWalk Robotics, Marlborough, Massachusetts, which designs and develops powered solutions for gait training and mobility for people with lower-limb disabilities; and Imago Rehab, Arlington, Massachusetts, a startup founded by Harvard engineers in 2021 to improve recovery outcomes for stroke survivors.
Combined with existing resources, the grant will support a $6 million effort to equip Harvard facilities with the infrastructure necessary to develop and evaluate wearable product prototypes. An emerging relationship with Bunker Hill Community College will help grow the workforce in these fields with new work and training opportunities for students.
The award was made by the Innovation Institute at the MassTech Collaborative from the Commonwealth’s Collaborative Research and Development Matching Grant program that invests in critical research and development infrastructure in Massachusetts.
Editor’s note: This story was adapted from materials provided by the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences.
