Unfortunately, that old cliché about older people breaking their hips comes from truth. The aging process, along with diseases like Osteoporosis, makes the bodies of elderly individuals less durable and resilient than their younger counterparts. And with loss of balance a common symptom of aging, falling down remains one of the top causes of injury for people over 65. But an MIT inventor believes a bit of NASA technology may help prevent such perilous spills.

While working as an intern at NASA, Erez Lieberman, a graduate student in the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology, conceived the idea for the iShoe (or intelligent shoe). Currently being developed by Lieberman and a team of professionals (Katherine Forth, a former NASA postdoctoral associate; Ricardo Piedrahita, a graduate of University of California at San Diego; and Qian Yang, a Harvard undergraduate), the iShoe is an insole that helps doctors detect balance problems before a fall occurs. The invention accomplishes this by collecting data as an individual walks and measuring the pressure distribution of the foot. The information collected is then relayed to a doctor for analysis. In addition to this function, the iShoe could be outfitted with an alarm that would alert family members and emergency services when a fall has occurred. Future versions of the iShoe also could help correct balance problems by providing sensory stimulation to the feet when the wearer is off-kilter.

Lieberman initially created the technology to help NASA monitor balance problems in astronauts returning from space. The lack of gravity in space throws the human vestibular system out of whack. A major contributor to human balance and spatial orientation, the vestibular system works with vision and sensory receptors (called proprioceptors) to keep people informed where their body parts are in relation to other body parts and the outside world. To prevent any permanent damage, NASA tests astronauts' balance for 16 days after they return from space. While working at NASA, Lieberman helped develop an algorithm to analyze astronaut balance. According to Lieberman, the algorithm was one of the first to look at pressure distribution of proprioceptors on the feet and explain the effect that distribution has on balance. While working on the project, Lieberman came to the realization that the new technology could have a practical application for everyday people like his own grandmother, who was once seriously injured after a fall.

The iShoe team have applied for a patent on the technology (to be jointly held by MIT, Harvard and NASA), and, in April, the iShoe company won a $50,000 grant from the Lunar Ventures Competition to help with start-up costs. The current iShoe prototype is designed to diagnose balance problems (though not yet correct them), and Lieberman and his colleagues are testing the invention on a sample group of about 60 people. They hope to use the data collected from this group to determine what factors put individuals at risk of falling. Lieberman believes the iShoe could hit the market in less than two years if the proper funding is obtained. And, with any luck, the invention will eventually keep a lot of hips from breaking.