{"id":8931,"date":"2014-11-07T00:07:33","date_gmt":"2014-11-07T08:07:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/?p=8931"},"modified":"2014-11-05T16:19:49","modified_gmt":"2014-11-06T00:19:49","slug":"b-shoe-helps-with-stability-balance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/2014\/11\/07\/b-shoe-helps-with-stability-balance\/","title":{"rendered":"B-Shoe helps with stability, balance"},"content":{"rendered":"

The B-Shoe prototype.\u00a0<\/strong>(photo from b-shoe.com<\/a>)<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

While observing his elderly father, Yonatan Manor, a chemical engineer from Haifa, decided to create a shoe to help prevent falls, an all too common danger faced by the elderly.<\/p>\n

Manor\u2019s father was often losing his balance when trying to go backwards, using his four-legged walker. \u201cOne Saturday morning, I was sitting at breakfast with my wife and told her I wished I had an idea to prevent him from falling,\u201d said Manor. \u201cIt was like a joke, as I know mechanics and it\u2019s not simple to build a machine strong enough to balance a person.\u201d<\/p>\n

Manor recalled, \u201cMy father would stand on his heels and then I\u2019d have to push him forward, back to a balanced position.\u201d Considering what type of shoe could help solve the problem, Manor said, \u201cIf the shoe was moving backward, it would do the same thing,\u201d meaning it would restore a person\u2019s balanced position. Manor went on to build a pre-prototype, a mechanical tool with a small motor and batteries, which he inserted into a shoe.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis makes it so you can\u2019t lose balance in the backward direction,\u201d said the inventor. \u201cYou lean backward and then you find you\u2019re standing straight again, and the shoe doesn\u2019t have to move much, only the [length] of the heel. It\u2019s only five centimetres, enough to do the job. It doesn\u2019t push you, give the feeling of something moving under the leg or give the feeling that you may lose balance.\u201d<\/p>\n

Manor said the shoe, which has been dubbed the \u201cB-Shoe,\u201d is designed for walking around at home. When an elder does venture out, someone else should still provide some accompaniment.<\/p>\n

When Manor reached the point when he knew he needed some business support to get his invention to the market, he turned to Abraham Stamper, a friend and retired scientist. Stamper became the chief executive officer of B-Shoe Technologies Ltd., established in 2011.<\/p>\n

Manor and Stamper were able to develop a business plan and a working prototype with the initial money they raised. They also had the help of the government agency overseeing the high-tech industry for their efforts in the field.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re in the phase of looking for funds for the investment of this next stage … developing the product ready for mass production,\u201d said Manor. \u201cRight now, it is just a generic prototype. Once we have the funds, it will likely take about 18 months to get it to market.\u201d<\/p>\n

When it came to developing the B-Shoe, Manor said the electronic and structural aspects were fairly straightforward. \u201cThe electro-mechanical solution is a bit smart and difficult,\u201d said Manor. \u201cWe need to do it in low volume and low weight. The electro-mechanical mechanism was the main development obstacle.\u201d<\/p>\n

As far as retail cost, Manor anticipates the shoe will be within the range of other high-end tailor-made comfort or orthopedic shoes, which is about $500 to $1,000 US per pair (which will be available at a store from a distributor).<\/p>\n

\u201cWe believe people who begin feeling like they\u2019re losing balance or who\u2019ve already fallen or suffered a near-fall will ask their GP or neurologist what to do and how to protect themselves,\u201d said Manor. \u201cOur vision is that medical professionals will then point the patient to the B-Shoe. Right now, people are most often recommended to use a walker or cane \u2013 but many people refuse to do so. The B-Shoe will be the better alternative.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe shoe\u2019s innovation isn\u2019t about the shoe itself, but the fall-prevention mechanism, which can be embedded into the sole of any conventional flat walking shoe \u2013 so there will be a wide variety of shoes for both men and women.<\/p>\n

\u201cB-Shoe\u2019s project addresses an annual global market of about 14 billion U.S. dollars.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dr. Stephen Rabinovitch, professor and Canada Research Chair at Simon Fraser University in the department of biomedical physiology and kinesiology and the School of Engineering Science, is well-versed on falls and balance in older adults.<\/p>\n

After having reviewed the information on the B-Shoe website, Rabinovitch said, \u201cIt\u2019s an interesting concept, but is in [a] very early stage of development and evaluation. We don\u2019t know anything yet on its effectiveness in improving balance and mobility and preventing falls in older adults. Right now, the B-Shoe device focuses only on preventing backward falls, but falls occur in different directions.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to Rabinovitch, falls are the number one cause of injuries in seniors, including 95 percent of hip fractures and 60 percent of traumatic brain injuries. \u201cSo, even a moderate reduction in falls would carry significant social and economic benefits,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cFalls are challenging to prevent, as there are a wide range of risk factors, such as reductions in physical and cognitive function, diseases, use of psychoactive medications, reductions in sensory function and muscle weakness.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s often difficult to think about prevention until falls start occurring, but it\u2019s important for people to exercise throughout their lifespan, and to focus on both their strength (through resistance training) and their agility and balance (through walking, hiking and approaches like Tai Chi). A current buzz phrase is \u2018exercise is medicine,\u2019 which is certainly appropriate with regard to mobility and falls.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rebeca Kuropatwa<\/strong> is a Winnipeg freelance writer.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The B-Shoe prototype.\u00a0(photo from b-shoe.com) While observing his elderly father, Yonatan Manor, a chemical engineer from Haifa, decided to create a shoe to help prevent falls, an all too common danger faced by the elderly. Manor\u2019s father was often losing his balance when trying to go backwards, using his four-legged walker. \u201cOne Saturday morning, I […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":8900,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[2405,2402,2403,2404],"class_list":["post-8931","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world","tag-abraham-stamper","tag-b-shoe","tag-stephen-rabinovitch","tag-yonatan-manor"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8931","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8931"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8931\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8900"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8931"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8931"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8931"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}