Tech Briefs Magazine - August 2024 - 21

gradually introduced into healthcare to serve people outside of
the clinic and improve health equity and access. "
The researchers said their method can be applied to other
motor tasks, which opens the door to evaluating other types of
movement disorders such as ataxia and Huntington's disease.
The new Parkinson's disease assessment is available online,
Portable Knee Dynamometer
Orthopedic device can exercise leg and provide data on recovering muscle during rehabilitation.
Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX
R
esearchers at NASA Johnson Space Center have developed
the Portable Knee Dynamometer, a device that enables
quadricep and hamstring strength assessment, rehabilitation,
and exercise capabilities for a user outside of a traditional clinical
setting. Clinical orthopedic dynamometers for highstrength
muscle groups tend to be large, heavy, and typically
not readily transportable. NASA's novel device can be easily
carried to a patient who may be homebound or otherwise unable
to travel to a clinic due to surgery, injury, or pathology.
The Portable Knee Dynamometer device allows for, or initiates,
knee flexion/extension through its actuator. The actuator
comprises a brushless DC motor, a motor encoder, a strain-wave
gear transmission (80:1 reduction), and a torque sensor mounted
to a rigid torque shaft. Internal mechanical static hard-stops
prevent the user from exceeding a safe range of motion. The
embedded firmware system contains additional safety monitoring
to remove motor power in the event of limit exceedance.
The device can operate in three different modes: isometric (device
holds position against all user forces), isokinetic (device limits
the user's velocity to a setpoint), and passive (device oscillates back
and forth against user resistance). It operates as a system and contains
all human-machine interface hardware, electronics, power
supply, and embedded firmware to operate the device.
The compact and lightweight device can be mounted on a
wide variety of sitting surfaces including folding chairs, and it
easily adjusts to a user's femur and tibia lengths. The device can
also be quickly repositioned to facilitate assessment of an opposite
leg. Prior state of the art provided no practical means of
dynamometry while in orbit for assessing astronauts' muscular
health and tendency for atrophy, and portable knee dynamometry
was similarly limited on Earth to clinical environments.
NASA spaceflight doctors and exercise physiologists are interested
in collecting this data to determine the time-course change
of muscle loss during space operations. Conversely, the Portable
Knee Dynamometer can also provide data on recovering muscle
during rehabilitation. This device addresses both these needs by
enabling data-logging while providing exercise or rehabilitative
movement, making it ideal for space and terrestrial applications.
NASA is actively seeking licensees to commercialize this technology.
Please contact NASA's Licensing Concierge at AgencyPatent-Licensing@mail.nasa.gov
or call at 202-358-7432 to initiate
licensing discussions. For more information, visit https://
technology.nasa.gov/patents.
though the researchers caution that it reflects an emerging
technology and at this early stage should not be considered, on
its own and without a physician's input, as a definitive measure
of the presence or severity of the disease.
For more information, contact Luke Auburn at luke.auburn@
rochester.edu; 585-490-3198.
An illustration of the Portable Knee Dynamometer mounted to a folding
chair. (Image: NASA)
Tech Briefs, August 2024
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Tech Briefs Magazine - August 2024

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