GaitTronics was founded in 2012 as a spin off from Carleton University’s Advanced Biomechatronics and Locomotion Laboratory located in Ottawa, Canada. The founding team composed of Dr. Richard Beranek (CEO), Dr. Aliasgar Morbi (CTO) and Prof. Mojtaba Ahamadi developed unique expertise in the field of rehabilitation robotics as part of their research at Carleton University. In 2012, we founded GaitTronics to commercialize SoloWalk – a patient handling robot that assists caregivers to mobilize frail patients in acute care and long term care settings.
Since founding the company, we have raised $600,000 in funding primarily to complete product development. Currently we have secured a first customer that will be using SoloWalk with cerebral palsy patients and we will be launching SoloWalk in the U.S. and Canadian markets in 2016. Going forward, GaitTronics aims to leverage the core IP it has developed in human-robot interaction in all aspects of robotic rehabilitation.
Company Leadership
Richard Beranek, CEO & Co-Founder
Aliasgar Morbi, CTO & Co-Founder
Startup Information
# of Employees
2
Problem Your Company/Products Solve
Getting a frail patient to walk can improve clinical outcomes and reduce their length-of-stay in the hospital. However, current approaches to mobilizing these patients are very staff intensive, requiring up to four caregivers. There is also a significant injury risk to both patients and staff. A serious fall for a patient can lead to severe complications or even a fatality. Additionally, caregiver patient handling injuries represent a cost in excess of $7 billion dollars a year. As a result, only 30% of the patients that could benefit from early mobilization receive adequate therapy.
SoloWalk is a robotized gait trainer that address these barriers with three key features. First there is a powered lift that helps a patient get up from a seated position. Second, when the patient begins walking, SoloWalkâs powered robotic base follows them effortlessly. This is achieved using our patent pending control system that directly interacts with the patient, understands their intent and moves SoloWalk in such a way that it feels very light a easy to move. The third key feature is an automatic fall detection system. If the patient loses their balance, it is automatically detected by SoloWalk and the patient is supported.
As a result of these features, the entire operation of mobilizing a patient can be done with a single caregiver. Additionally, injury risks are significantly reduced for patients and staff since fall protection is managed automatically by SoloWalk, without caregiver intervention. This makes it much easier for institutions to get their patients mobilized which will lead to improved clinical outcomes, and also reduce care costs by $3,000 per patient through length-of-stay savings.
Market
Acute Care Hospitals, Long term care facilities, Rehabilitation Clinics
Company Needs