Sbir fast-track: home-based stroke rehabilitation: researching and developing the bluetooth electromyography-based stroketherapeutic (best) system

The National Science Foundation awarded Impulse Wellness LLC $304,997 on July 1, 2026, under the SBIR Fast-Track program to design and validate a wearable electromyography-based stroke rehabilitation system. The recipient will develop a sensor-embedded textile garment integrating reusable electrodes tailored to specific muscles and therapeutic activities, connected to built-in sensors to track muscle electrical activity during dynamic exercises and deliver real-time biofeedback. The system aims to enable home-based, feedback-guided rehabilitation for stroke patients with hemiparesis—a condition affecting movement and strength on one side of the body—addressing access barriers from cost, distance, and limited service availability, particularly in rural or low-resource areas. The project targets the 675,000 patients who experience stroke annually and the estimated 8 million people living with post-stroke motor impairment in the United States. Work is performed in Raleigh, North Carolina, with a period of performance extending from July 1, 2026, through December 31, 2028. The award falls under the NSF Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships directorate (CFDA 47.084), which funds research and innovation addressing national and societal challenges.

Abstract

The broader impact/commercial potential of this small business innovation research (sbir) phase i project is an automated remote stroke rehabilitation based on physiologic feedback for enabling optimal and broader access to patients. Stroke often causes persistent motor impairment in millions of individuals who frequently face barriers to regular, in-person rehabilitation to cost, distance, or limited availability of services. This project aims to develop an affordable, home-based rehabilitation system integrating wearable muscle sensors and interactive exercises to assist training muscle movement and restore patient movement and independence. The approach poses the potential to improve quality of life, reduce healthcare expenses, and extend rehabilitation access to underserved populations, including those in rural or low-resource areas, by enabling high-quality feedback-guided therapy at home. The commercial potential and primary customer is 675,000 patients who experience a stroke each year and live with hemiparesis, a condition that affects movement and strength on one side of the body, with potential use in the amount of 8M people post-stroke in the US. This small business innovation research (sbir) phase i project aims to design and validate a novel EMG muscular feedback based rehabilitation system that integrates a novel sensor-embedded textile to deliver real-time biofeedback during therapeutic exercises. The system aims to provide a reusable fully embedded electrode system tailored for the specific targeted muscle and activities versus current general single-use adhesive-based skin electrodes. During this project, the electrodes will be engineered to measure the electrical excitation of superficial muscles during dynamic activities, connected to the garment?s built-in sensors to track muscle activity. The integrated worn system will be coupled to an external system and application to guide patients through various rehabilitation activities that promote proper muscle use and motor recovery. The technology development objectives in this phase are to refine the wearable electrode system for comfort and accuracy, integrate adaptive feedback that adjusts to the user?s progress, and validate the system?s usability and effectiveness in people post-stroke in order to ensure the integrated textile-embedded EMG system achieves a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) ? 40 DB with