Smart shoes

Ian Welch never planned to get into biomechanics, and he certainly never expected to go into business.

But with Associate Professor Corinne Lengsfeld and Dean Rahmat Shoureshi of Denver University's (DU)’s School of Engineering and Computer Science, the grad student helped develop a new product, and DU is applying for a federal patent and may start up a new company to market the invention.

The invention is a solution to a problem doctors had with their elderly patients falling due to surgery, medication or frailty. Welch’s idea: using shoe-mounted sensors to monitor weight distribution and gait.

The sensors — mounted on a paper-thin pad inside shoes — gather data from the wearer and provide feedback to researchers via radio waves. Ideally, wearers won’t even be aware the device is in the shoe. Radio transmitters, computer memory and other electronics are hidden inside the sole.

Doctors could use the data transmitted back to help patients understand balance and gait, and avoid falls.