The Partnership for Economic Innovation (PEI), a collective of business and community leaders dedicated to accelerating Arizona’s economic opportunities, announced that the Arizona Commerce Authority had awarded $1.6 million to support eight new applied research projects through its WearTech Applied Research Center.
State funding matches private and nonstate funds committed by the industry partners.
The applied research model accelerates product development and commercialization by combining private and public sector. PEI’s WearTech Applied Research Center focuses on de-risking investment in future-of-health and biomedical technology. The center shepherds these innovative products though the idea generation, project formation, validation and commercialization phases.
During the 2021 legislative session, the State Legislature appropriated $5 million to distribute to applied research centers and institutes across the state, including $2.5 million for wearable technology applied research. The Arizona Commerce Authority then awarded funds to selected applicants of its Applied Research Program, including $1.6 million to a new cohort of eight projects housed under the WearTech Applied Research Center.
The WearTech Center has so far supported the development and the path to commercialization of wearable technology projects, including a drug-free anxiety treatment device and dynamic fall risk assessment tool. This additional funding will support eight new projects, more than doubling the number of applied research projects through the WearTech Center.
New research projects will help those with walking disabilities, develop a fetal monitor to detect compromising issues, and create a wearable phototherapy device for treatment for thrush.
The WearTech Center’s 2022 cohort of eight projects partner with one of Arizona’s three public universities: Arizona State University, University of Arizona and Northern Arizona University. The projects are:
- Biomotum’s Wearable Robotic Ankle Assist Device (RAAD), an on-demand mobility assistance device to aid at-home functional gait training for individuals with a walking disability
- GoX Labs’ and AKE’s Quasi-Active Exoskeleton (PhenEx), a device aimed at reducing work-related injuries and improving wellness with springs that aid activities like squatting or lifting
- TouchPoint Solutions’ Anti-Anxiety Device, an over-the-counter device that combines look-up table and AI algorithms with (BLAST™) technology to reduce stress and anxiety
- Movement Interactive’s Hiji®Band, an integrated solution for measuring acute injury in individuals exposed to brain injury
- KLS’s Fetal Monitor, uses biosensors and machine learning to detect emerging compromises to a baby’s health status for intervention
- TF Health Company’s Personal Exposure Badge-like Device, a personal exposure device wore like a badge that monitors air pollutants and a Breath Fat Oxidation Sensor, a sensing device that detects acetone in the breath to monitor adherence to calories in/calories out diets and ketogenic diets
- 8Chili’s Virtual Reality for Medical Training technology and headband, a virtual reality simulation of clinical studies for medical students
- Desert Platform’s Thrush Treatment Device, a wearable phototherapy device for least invasive, most natural, and fully mobile treatment for thrush
Information on WearTech Center projects and more is available at azweartech.org. To learn more about the Partnership for Economic Innovation and its initiatives, visit azpei.org.
