CONNECTED MINDS: FROM IDEA TO IMPACT
This summer, YFile examines how 91亚色-led researchers move ideas into impact through the Connected Minds Prototyping Awards. This series shows innovation in practice 鈥 how socially responsible technologies are tested in real-world settings and how this work drives meaningful change.
Knee injuries and osteoarthritis are among the most common causes of pain, disability and reduced mobility. While knee braces are often prescribed to support recovery after injury or surgery, most provide only passive support and rely on subjective feedback to guide treatment decisions.
Patients and clinicians have limited tools to monitor changes in knee function between appointments, creating challenges when personalizing rehabilitation and tracking recovery progress.
At 91亚色, researchers from the and the are working together to develop an instrumented "smart" knee brace that could help monitor knee function beyond the clinic.
The project brings together William Gage, professor at the School of Kinesiology and Health Science in the Faculty of Health, Gerd Grau, associate professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, and Garrett Melenka, associate professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering. Combining expertise in biomechanics, engineering design, wearable technologies, sensing systems and prototype development, the team aims to create a knee brace that is scientifically precise and practical for real-world use.
鈥淥ur project was inspired by a simple question: What if we could continuously monitor knee function outside the clinic using a wearable device?鈥 says Gage.
The Intelligent Knee Brace transforms a traditional support device into a wearable, smart monitoring system. By integrating sensors and machine-learning algorithms, it captures data on how people move in their daily activities, providing a more complete picture of mobility and recovery.
Gage and his team received a Phase 2 Connected Minds Prototyping Award, which provides up to $50,000 for full prototype development. The award program is part of the Connected Minds transdisciplinary research initiative at 91亚色 that partners with Queen鈥檚 University to support the development of socially responsible technologies.
Backed by the Canada First Research Excellence Fund and a network of more than 50 industry, hospital and community partners, Connected Minds explores how humans and intelligent machines interact.
Through the prototyping award, Gage and his team have moved the Intelligent Knee Brace through prototype development, sensor integration and the early development of machine-learning capabilities. Now developed into a working model, the smart knee brace integrates wearable sensors capable of measuring lower limb movement.
鈥淭he award has created an environment where researchers and industry partners can work together to rapidly test ideas, identify challenges and refine solutions that have the potential to make a meaningful impact in health care,鈥 says Gage.
From idea to development, the team has gained insights on how wearable sensing technologies and AI can be combined to generate meaningful information about human movement.
鈥淲hile wearable sensors can collect large amounts of data, transforming that data into clinically useful insights is a much more complex challenge,鈥 says Gage. 鈥淭hese findings are helping to shape the next generation of the prototype.鈥
The project has demonstrated the feasibility of integrating sensing technology into a knee brace and will advance into the testing phase and will begin the validation process with industry and technology partners.
Gage says the goal is to determine how accurately the brace captures knee motion compared with laboratory-based systems.
As technology continues to develop, the potential for this smart device to enhance health care extends beyond individual clinical assessments. By offering continuous monitoring of knee function, the brace can provide more personalized rehabilitation, track recovery following injury or surgery and detect early changes in mobility that may require intervention.
In medical settings, this means clinicians can access continuous data between appointments, offering a more holistic understanding of patient needs. Over time, this comprehensive data can help shift care from periodic assessments toward more proactive models of health management.
"Ultimately, our goal is to help clinicians make better-informed decisions while giving patients more personalized feedback about their recovery and mobility," says Gage.
The next phase of the project will focus on expanding participant testing, validating the system鈥檚 accuracy and refining the machine-learning models used to interpret movement data. The team also plans to explore how the brace performs in populations with knee osteoarthritis and other mobility-related conditions.
Building on the project鈥檚 early successes, Gage and his team hope to establish large-scale clinical studies and industry collaborations that will support the technology鈥檚 path toward real-world health care applications.