NIH Awards $2.1M to Help Treat CP

Zach Lerner, Assistant Professor at Northern Arizona University’s https://nau.edu Department of Mechanical Engineering received $2.1 M from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver NICHD within NIH https://nichd.nih.gov to launch a CT to test a treatment for children with Cerebral Palsy (CP.)

A child’s ability to walk effectively is essential to physical health and general well-being. Nearly 4 in 1,000 children are afflicted with CP, a neurological disorder that affects muscle control and coordination

Although most treatment strategies have proven insufficient, one of the most promising potential new treatment options is the use of battery-powered wearable robots, or exoskeletons, that provide home-based gait training and mobility assistance.

These devices have the potential to revolutionize rehabilitation of patients with neuromuscular deficiencies to significantly decrease their lifelong suffering and the economic burdens placed on their families.

The NIH funding will enable Professor Lerner to launch a major five year clinical trial to test a treatment strategy for children with CP using his patented and patent-pending invention.

According to Professor Lerner, “The project builds directly on the work we have been doing at NAU for the past five years which has been to develop an adaptive ankle exoskeleton device that offers a lightweight, portable, and effective way to improve mobility in children with CP.”

Lerner’s team will be working with Gillette Children’s Specialty Healthcare in St. Paul, Minnesota to conduct the 12 week gait training intervention using the exoskeleton technology developed at NAU and built by Lerner’s spinoff company Biomotum, Other aspects of the project will take place in Lerner’s lab and at the Ability & Innovation Lab at the University of Washington.