Cadets compete, work to enhance physical therapy

  • Published
  • By Amber Baillie
  • Academy Public Affairs
U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. --  Five cadets from the Technological Innovation 419-420 class here competed in the first annual Blue Ocean Enterprises Challenge May 2 at Colorado State University, presenting a design that could make physical therapy more efficient and allow patients to perform accurate movements at home.

Over 100 teams applied to compete in the challenge and 16 were selected for the collegiate track, including the Academy.

"There are two tracks in the competition, enterprise and collegiate," said Capt. Jason Belvill, an instructor of management here who traveled with the team. "Cadets competed against universities from across the country and were the only undergraduate team to place in the top five."

Through the Cooperative Research and Development Agreement with FalconWorks, cadets from the Academy's Management, Computer Engineering and Electrical Engineering departments collaborated to develop Neumimic, a physical therapy system helping patients with chronic loss and limb motion. The software and multi-directional arm brace work together with Microsoft Xbox Kinect to allow patients to compare actual motions with desired motions. As a result, the brain can be trained to effectively regain the limb's lost functionality, according to the FalconWorks website.

"The purpose of the project is to make the physical therapy process better targeted, efficient, faster, cheaper, and more user-friendly," said Cadet 1st Class Brian Brookover, a cadet on the Neumimic team. "This ability to control the patient's movement coupled with the Kinect computer program gives the patient and the therapist feedback on progress. Also, patients wouldn't have to make a trip to the hospital or clinic every time they wanted to be evaluated or see their progress. The materials are very cheap compared to those on the market right now, so the final product will be as well."

For the past year, the team has spent roughly 140 hours each, combining time in the lab and talking to different shareholders and customers, Brookover said.

"We primarily targeted stroke patients in our research, but soon realized that the concept could be greatly expanded to a much wider range of physical therapy," he said.

At the challenge, cadets had 10 minutes to present their prototype (designed to cover the entire range of motion of the human shoulder) and business plan to venture capitalists, entrepreneurs and top executives from the area.

"It was the first time I had a school project that could actually make a difference to people, and the competition brought that to life for me," Brookover said. "It was awesome seeing the management guys take the business aspect to the next level. They looked at potential markets and presented the whole project as a marketable product. That was new to me and made me appreciate what we were doing that much more."

Neumimic is a big picture project, designed to benefit more than just our class grade, Brookover said.

"Few, if any, of us cadets had any prior experience working with engineering and marketing an actual product like this," he said. "It got us out of the classroom and forced us to work outside of our own academic comfort zones. It was very rewarding working for other people, in a class where there was little or no emphasis on what sort of grade we received."

Brookover said he thinks the project allows more student experience and helps better the greater Colorado Springs area and beyond.

"I think it's important for FalconWorks to invest in a project like this because it gets them some publicity, which I assume would help market them and allow them to invest in more projects that benefit the community," he said.

In February, cadets from the course took first place at University of Colorado at Colorado Springs' "Pitch Night," receiving $500 for their business plan on Neumimic.

"I felt cadets were prepared and represented themselves well in Fort Collins," Belvill said. "It gives cadets a chance to step outside of the Academy, presenting their projects and representing their department. It allows them to step outside of their comfort zone and be excited about a project. The composure and bravery that's required in these competitions is great practice before they join active duty."

The Academy's Neumimic project team: 
Cadets 1st Class Kyung Kim, Andrew Murrell, Brian Brookover, Ryan Mavity, Jonathan Schneider, John Davis, Marcus Walker and Gregory Kabel.

The project was led by Capt. Ryan Silva and Capt. Todd Branchflower and overseen by Dr. Glen House, the director of rehabilitation at Penrose-St. Francis Hospital.