Innovative entrepreneurs expand product landscape
Monday May 14, 2012
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Give certain people a problem or challenge and they will come up with an invention. This was the case for Bryce Taylor, PT, MS, of Downtown Physical Therapy in Indianapolis. Taylor said it started after he became interested in research on the core muscles.
While developing lumbar stabilization protocol, which used the Wii Balance Board for real-time, visual feedback, Taylor said he decided it would be a great idea to combine core stabilization with resistance exercises. So he turned to his favorite tool, a stability ball. Unfortunately, Taylor said, the ball was not very ergonomic and it had too many elements of instability.
"You have to control it rolling, and it was squishy at the same time," he said. "Many patients couldn’t do some of the exercises I thought of. I realized the stability ball needed some kind of grip. It needed handlebars."
After multiple prototypes, Taylor developed the Halo Trainer Pro, which fits onto a stability ball in several ways. The Halo can be used under the ball to limit its rolling, which leaves the patient challenged by only the squishiness of the ball. The Halo also can be placed on top of the stability ball providing the patient with convenient handlebars to help maintain his or her balance. Taylor said this is especially helpful for geriatric or neuro patient populations.
Taylor said he was most excited about the exercise content he developed to go with the Halo. "We took the laws of physics and broke everything down to come up with formulas to progress or regress an exercise," he said.
Inspirational patients
A patient’s dilemma prompted Al Peraza, PT, DPT, to design the ResQUp to help people get up with minimal assistance after noninjurious falls. The patient, knowing he was at risk for falling and not strong enough to get himself back to a seated position, did not want his wife to get hurt trying to help him. The patient also did not want to call emergency crews if he wasn’t injured. Peraza, who is certified in ergonomics, developed a stepped device that can be moved easily when needed and folds up for storage.
The product also can aid nurses, PTs, OTs and caregivers in helping a patient up without injuring themselves. "There’s a high incidence of caregivers who hurt themselves getting people up off the floor," according to Jerry Crandall, company manager of Safe Patient Solutions LLC, which makes the ResQUp.
Crandall said the ResQUp also is being used as an exercise tool, so seniors and other populations can use it to practice moving up and down from a chair to the floor and back up. This helps seniors strengthen the muscle groups in their upper bodies and some leg muscles, which benefits posture, strength and keeps them active.
The R:loop, R:loopXL and other stretchy Re-Design LLC products were born from a material first developed for fishing lures, according to company president Amy Karpus, PT. Her father, an engineer, was tasked with finding new uses for the thermoplastic elastomer and asked her to look at the material. Karpus said they created the R:grip Total Hand Exerciser about four and a half years ago. "As we were looking at it, I thought, 'You know, this would make the greatest material for resistance bands,’" she said.
Unlike traditional latex or nonlatex resistance bands, the R:loops do not roll up, pinch or snap, Karpus said, and they last much longer. The loops also stretch as much as 10-12 times their resting lengths, allowing more versatility in exercises than traditional bands, which usually stretch 1.5-3 times resting length, she said.
Karpus said her true love is working with the geriatric population, but she never used traditional resistance bands because it was too painful. "They’d have swelling or pain in their legs, and I’m not going to put this strip around [them] that cuts into that," she said. "That’s what I was initially most excited about. For peds this turned out to be an incredible tool."
Two years ago, the company released the Monkey, a hand exerciser. Children can have the monkey make faces by moving their fingers and even have the monkey stick out his tongue by sticking a thumb out, according to Karpus. She said they developed an animal-themed exercise program to go with the R:band Jr. Another product, the Pediatools Doggy Bag, is a peds kit that includes two puppy hand exercisers, a bone the children can pull and twist, a light loop and a puppy-themed exercise program.
The newest addition is the Recovery Pack, designed for women who have been diagnosed with breast cancer. It includes a pink R:grip, pink R:loop and a black cherry-colored R:loopXL in a pink cinch backpack with an exercise program to guide women through healing, Karpus said. The program is designed to restore strength, increase energy, decrease swelling and pain, reduce risk of lymphedema and decrease treatment side effects, Karpus said. "Too many women come out of surgery and treatment and the doctor will say, 'OK, move your arm,’" she said. "There’s much more to it than that."
Personal inspiration
Cynthia Garris, an OT who was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis came up with Siris Ring Splints as a longer-lasting and more stylish alternative to traditional splints. She developed the new line of splints that look like silver jewelry while still providing the necessary support. The splints come in different shapes to help with issues including arthritis, jamming or crushing injuries and repetitive stress or overuse injuries.
The splints are primarily sterling silver, which is nickel-free, but some people do order gold. "Fifty percent of what we sell are swan neck splints, that’s for hyperextension of a joint," Garris’ son Jesse Garris said.
A six-day hospital stay for a broken back inspired mom Deborah Tacoma to invent the FreedomWand. Tacoma, who was injured in a automobile accident in 2006, said the device is useful for people who are dealing with obesity, arthritis, diabetes, hip or knee replacement surgeries, carpal tunnel syndrome and arm, hand or spinal injuries. The four grippers can grasp a razor, loofah or ointment applicator, as well as toilet tissue.
"It’s a subject people don’t like to talk about because it’s embarrassing, but yet it’s one of the most embarrassing things to have somebody do for you," Tacoma said. •
Bonnie Benton is a member of the editorial staff.
While developing lumbar stabilization protocol, which used the Wii Balance Board for real-time, visual feedback, Taylor said he decided it would be a great idea to combine core stabilization with resistance exercises. So he turned to his favorite tool, a stability ball. Unfortunately, Taylor said, the ball was not very ergonomic and it had too many elements of instability.
"You have to control it rolling, and it was squishy at the same time," he said. "Many patients couldn’t do some of the exercises I thought of. I realized the stability ball needed some kind of grip. It needed handlebars."
After multiple prototypes, Taylor developed the Halo Trainer Pro, which fits onto a stability ball in several ways. The Halo can be used under the ball to limit its rolling, which leaves the patient challenged by only the squishiness of the ball. The Halo also can be placed on top of the stability ball providing the patient with convenient handlebars to help maintain his or her balance. Taylor said this is especially helpful for geriatric or neuro patient populations.
Taylor said he was most excited about the exercise content he developed to go with the Halo. "We took the laws of physics and broke everything down to come up with formulas to progress or regress an exercise," he said.
Inspirational patients
A patient’s dilemma prompted Al Peraza, PT, DPT, to design the ResQUp to help people get up with minimal assistance after noninjurious falls. The patient, knowing he was at risk for falling and not strong enough to get himself back to a seated position, did not want his wife to get hurt trying to help him. The patient also did not want to call emergency crews if he wasn’t injured. Peraza, who is certified in ergonomics, developed a stepped device that can be moved easily when needed and folds up for storage.
The product also can aid nurses, PTs, OTs and caregivers in helping a patient up without injuring themselves. "There’s a high incidence of caregivers who hurt themselves getting people up off the floor," according to Jerry Crandall, company manager of Safe Patient Solutions LLC, which makes the ResQUp.
Crandall said the ResQUp also is being used as an exercise tool, so seniors and other populations can use it to practice moving up and down from a chair to the floor and back up. This helps seniors strengthen the muscle groups in their upper bodies and some leg muscles, which benefits posture, strength and keeps them active.
The R:loop, R:loopXL and other stretchy Re-Design LLC products were born from a material first developed for fishing lures, according to company president Amy Karpus, PT. Her father, an engineer, was tasked with finding new uses for the thermoplastic elastomer and asked her to look at the material. Karpus said they created the R:grip Total Hand Exerciser about four and a half years ago. "As we were looking at it, I thought, 'You know, this would make the greatest material for resistance bands,’" she said.
Unlike traditional latex or nonlatex resistance bands, the R:loops do not roll up, pinch or snap, Karpus said, and they last much longer. The loops also stretch as much as 10-12 times their resting lengths, allowing more versatility in exercises than traditional bands, which usually stretch 1.5-3 times resting length, she said.
Karpus said her true love is working with the geriatric population, but she never used traditional resistance bands because it was too painful. "They’d have swelling or pain in their legs, and I’m not going to put this strip around [them] that cuts into that," she said. "That’s what I was initially most excited about. For peds this turned out to be an incredible tool."
Two years ago, the company released the Monkey, a hand exerciser. Children can have the monkey make faces by moving their fingers and even have the monkey stick out his tongue by sticking a thumb out, according to Karpus. She said they developed an animal-themed exercise program to go with the R:band Jr. Another product, the Pediatools Doggy Bag, is a peds kit that includes two puppy hand exercisers, a bone the children can pull and twist, a light loop and a puppy-themed exercise program.
The newest addition is the Recovery Pack, designed for women who have been diagnosed with breast cancer. It includes a pink R:grip, pink R:loop and a black cherry-colored R:loopXL in a pink cinch backpack with an exercise program to guide women through healing, Karpus said. The program is designed to restore strength, increase energy, decrease swelling and pain, reduce risk of lymphedema and decrease treatment side effects, Karpus said. "Too many women come out of surgery and treatment and the doctor will say, 'OK, move your arm,’" she said. "There’s much more to it than that."
Personal inspiration
Cynthia Garris, an OT who was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis came up with Siris Ring Splints as a longer-lasting and more stylish alternative to traditional splints. She developed the new line of splints that look like silver jewelry while still providing the necessary support. The splints come in different shapes to help with issues including arthritis, jamming or crushing injuries and repetitive stress or overuse injuries.
The splints are primarily sterling silver, which is nickel-free, but some people do order gold. "Fifty percent of what we sell are swan neck splints, that’s for hyperextension of a joint," Garris’ son Jesse Garris said.
A six-day hospital stay for a broken back inspired mom Deborah Tacoma to invent the FreedomWand. Tacoma, who was injured in a automobile accident in 2006, said the device is useful for people who are dealing with obesity, arthritis, diabetes, hip or knee replacement surgeries, carpal tunnel syndrome and arm, hand or spinal injuries. The four grippers can grasp a razor, loofah or ointment applicator, as well as toilet tissue.
"It’s a subject people don’t like to talk about because it’s embarrassing, but yet it’s one of the most embarrassing things to have somebody do for you," Tacoma said. •
Bonnie Benton is a member of the editorial staff.
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Monday May 14, 2012