SF startup creates bionic clothing to help people with mobility disabilities | Popgen Tech

Allen was able to walk smoothly thanks to the Cionic Neural Sleeve, a leg sleeve embedded with sensors that monitored her movements and electrodes that stimulated her muscles to activate as needed.

It’s basically bionic clothing.

The device is now close to public release early next year as its maker, San Francisco-based startup Cionic, has received FDA approval and a state license as a medical device manufacturer. (Allen was among several dozen early testers.)

Cionic hopes the sleeve will prove transformative for some of the 35 million Americans with mobility impairments.

The mission is personal for Cionic founder and CEO Jeremiah Robison, who worked on handwriting recognition at Apple, wearable health sensors at Jawbone and the first web browser for mobile phones at Openwave.

His 13-year-old daughter Sofia was born prematurely and has cerebral palsy, which prevents her from walking.

“I’ve spent most of my career at the interface of data and the human body, creating wearable devices to track aspects of human health,” said Robison. “I had enough knowledge and tremendous motivation to say, ‘Since nothing is available for my daughter, if not me, then who?’ If not now, then when?” »

He founded the company in his San Francisco garage in 2018 to create movement-enhancing clothing, and that year had a working prototype using a pair of Sofia’s tights.

“Early on, I was zero test pilot,” said Sophia, a seventh-grader who loves music and science and hopes to become an engineer. “I got to try the very first iteration. Now I have a sleeve in my size, which is really cool.”

(However, the device will not initially be available for pediatric use.)

One of Robinon’s inspirations was watching Sophia receive physical therapy that included functional electrical stimulation, or FES, to activate her muscles. It was a clumsy process, with a physical therapist placing long-wired electrodes on her leg muscles that connected them to a control device that the therapist manipulated while walking with Sofia. Robison also saw how motion analysis performed in the gait lab helped Sophia walk in a straight line.

His eureka moment was to combine “the diagnostic power of a gait lab with the therapeutic power of FES in a garment that can be worn … anywhere in the world,” as he explained on the company’s website.

The 19-person company, which has $23 million in venture backing, took its name from a combination of “cybernetics, the science of communication and automatic control systems in machines and living things, and bionics, the study of mechanical systems that function like living organisms or parts of living organisms ,” Robison said in a follow-up email.

Cionic offers the sleeve at an introductory price of $200 per month for 12 months, after which users own it outright. Users can also cancel their subscription at any time without penalty. It’s still considered an experimental technology, Robison said, which likely prevents most insurers from covering it.

The sleeve comes with a small control device, slightly larger than a deck of cards, that fits into a pocket on the upper thigh. This device interacts with an app on the user’s smartphone, which allows the user to adjust stimulation parameters and suggest exercises that help increase strength and strengthen motor learning, Robison said.

The battery-powered device lasts for 8 to 12 hours and can be charged using the included USB-C charger.

Cionic’s mobility specialists will provide remote training and fine-tuning for each user, said Rebecca Webster, Cionic’s director of clinical operations.

“Everybody has a very different disorder,” she said. “The system can treat the four quadrants of the leg: tibia, calf, quadriceps and hamstrings. Not everyone needs all of these muscle groups to be involved.”

Rukow is best suited for people with gait impairments due to neurological conditions such as stroke, multiple sclerosis, cerebral palsy and spinal cord injuries (excluding total paralysis), she said.

“Many patients with such diseases have to think about where they are stepping with every step,” she said. “It takes a lot of mental energy. Rukov reduces this mental load.”

Steven Kanter, a physical therapist who works with multiple sclerosis patients in New York and an adjunct professor of anatomy and biomedical ethics at Seton Hall University in New Jersey, said the main alternatives to functional electrical stimulation at home are cuffs. for feet from WalkAide and Bioness, which cost several thousand dollars each.

“What’s exciting about the Cionic is that it can offer things that other FES devices don’t,” such as stimulating multiple muscle groups instead of just one at a time, and allowing the app to adjust stimulation based on changes in how the user walks, he said.

Although he has not used the device in a clinic and is not affiliated with the company, he has seen a demo of it. “It creates synchronicity in the movement, which can potentially allow for a better walk or a better smooth walk,” he said.

However, in his opinion, it would be better for patients to use the device under the guidance of a physiotherapist. Robison said Sionic deliberately focused on home use because only about a fifth of people who need physical therapy actually receive it.

Allen, 57, who lives in Novato, said the walker eliminates one source of anxiety as she looks for work.

“It allows me to walk safely,” she said. “When I put on the sleeve, the electrical stimulation helps make sure my foot is on the ground properly. I can continue with confidence. This is invaluable, especially if you are going for an interview. The bottom line is that it gives me peace of mind – one less thing to worry about.”

For the Robisons, mobility issues are a family affair. Sophia’s mother, Jackie Robison, started a non-profit called WAWOS (We’re Always Working on Something) to support children with cerebral palsy and related neuromuscular delays, and Sophia herself shares wellness tips on the WAWOS Instagram account.

“My main thing that I’ve been adamant about is that (advice) is not just about disability; they should be applicable to anyone, Sophia said. “I don’t want to do it specifically with disability. We preach: disability is not the main thing in people.”

Sophia said the sleeve was beneficial both psychologically and physically.

“For me, being the one left behind (because she’s slower than my friends) can be very difficult mentally,” she said. “Helping people not to be left behind can be very important. “I just want to say, good job, Dad,” she added kindly.

However, she hopes to push her father to invent more Iron Man-type devices.

“I was promised rocket socks when we started this,” she said. “I’m still waiting for them, Dad.”

Carolyn Said is a staff writer for the San Francisco Chronicle. Email: csaid@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @csaid