- An untethered ankle exoskeleton improves walking economy in a pilot study of individuals with cerebral palsy. IEEE Transactions on Neural Systems and Rehab Engineering.
- Proportional Joint-Moment Control for Instantaneously-Adaptive Ankle Exoskeleton Assistance. IEEE Transactions on Neural Systems and Rehab Engineering.
- A Battery-Powered Ankle Exoskeleton Improves Gait Mechanics in a Feasibility Study of Individuals with Cerebral Palsy. Annals of Biomedical Engineering.
- Adaptation of Gait Energetics to Ankle Exoskeleton Assistance Within and Across Visits: A Clinical Case Series. IEEE 2019 Wearable Robotics Association Conference (WearRAcon).
- Verification of a Robotic Ankle Exoskeleton Control Scheme for Gait Assistance in Individuals with Cerebral Palsy. IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS).
We create robotic assistive devices that transform care.
At BiOMOTUM, we envision a world where children and adults with movement disorders lead healthy, productive and socially satisfying lives.
About Us
History
Co-founders Zach Lerner and Ray Browning met in 2011 when Zach became a PhD student in biomedical engineering at Colorado State University. Zach conducted research in the Physical Activity laboratory as one of Ray’s graduate students. Since that time, Zach and Ray have been focused on understanding and optimizing pediatric mobility. As former elite athletes, they both have a passion for movement and the vision that all individuals have physical experiences that allow them to see and achieve their potential. Zach, while doing post-doctoral research at the National Institutes of Health, began to focus his bioengineering skills on developing assistive technology to help children with movement disorders. Over the last several years, Zach and his team at Northern Arizona University have created robotic assistive devices that offer a lightweight, portable and effective way to improve mobility in children with Cerebral Palsy. These devices are the foundation for BiOMOTUM.
Today
BiOMOTUM was formed in 2019. Our mission is to improve mobility and rehabilitation outcomes in children and adults with movement disorders. We aim to accomplish this mission by leveraging a user-centered design approach, gathering insight from affected individuals and clinicians, to create, produce and distribute intelligent, holistic and engaging wearable systems. Our patent-pending technology is built on a foundation of rigorous clinical research and testing. As a result, our systems are designed to improve neuromuscular function and quality of life across the lifespan. We have a functional device that has proven mobility benefits, including improved coordination, reduced energy cost to walk, increased walking speed and improved leg strength and look forward to bringing this system to the market.
Tomorrow
At BiOMOTUM, we believe that robotic assistive devices are a key partner in neuromuscular rehabilitation. These devices will allow mobility assistance and therapy to be delivered anywhere, anytime. This, in turn, should accelerate the neural plasticity that facilitates lasting improvements in function and mobility. Our robotic ankle assist device is just the first step toward our vision of a world where children and adults with movement disorders lead healthy, productive and socially satisfying lives.
Technology
Mobility
Assists in mobility at home while offering the ability to perform daily functional therapy.
Adaptive
Safely assists despite varying terrain in the community (hills, uneven surfaces, play structures).
Independence
Facilitates independence, social engagement and mobility at school.
our team
Zach Lerner, PhD
Co-Founder, CTO
Zach is an engineer and human movement scientist with 8 years of clinical research experience. He leverages human-centered design techniques and training in neuromuscular biomechanics to innovate effective, realistic assistive technologies. Zach has engineering industry experience in medical device development and testing. A passion for outdoor recreation motivates his commitment to improving mobility for individuals, particularly children, with disabilities.
Ray Browning, PhD
Co-Founder, CEO
Ray is an entrepreneur and innovator with over 30 years of academic and industry experience developing health and human performance products and services. He is an energetic and collaborative research scientist and engineer with a proven ability to deliver knowledge, insights and concepts to industry, academics, clinicians, students and the public. To foster innovation, Ray enjoys connecting individuals with diverse expertise across a wide-range of industry and academic disciplines. Ray has leadership and cultural transformation experience in Fortune 100, Start-Up and University settings and is known for creating highly engaged, successful teams. He is a lifelong athlete with a passion for inspiring and partnering with others in helping them to see and achieve their potential through physical activity.
Aaron Weast
VP Product Development
Aaron is an entrepreneur and engineering innovator with over 19 years of consumer electronics industry experience. He has developed wearable technology and electro-mechanical systems at scale. He is a systems thinker with a proven track record solving incredibly difficult problems in product development and delivering them to market. A rare combination of engineering depth as well as a great deal of breadth in other disciplines, he has led many diverse teams over his career -- including many facets of engineering, design, physiology, and machine learning. Applying his passion in bringing multiple perspectives and disciplines together to create elegant solutions, with purpose, gives him energy.
Joe Lerner
Co-Founder, Business Development/Marketing
Joseph is a practitioner of purposeful entrepreneurship utilizing goal setting, accountably, big picture thinking with industry experience developing consumer centric products and services. He is a collaborative connector with a leadership style, recognizing that together everyone achieves more. Joseph is the creator of several start-up companies with a range of skills including, hiring, product development, management, negotiations, business development and implementation. He is passionate developer of human potential, with a focus on mindset and removal of limiting beliefs to achieve and surpass goals. Joseph is a known marketing maven, creative thinker, with expertise in branding, sales, technology, sponsorship and development.
Advisory Board
Michael Collins
Medical Device Commercialization
Arun Jayaraman
Clinical/Assistive Technology
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