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Please Note: The technology listed below is not available to the public at this time. This technology is in the early stage of research and requires further development before it is ready for the marketplace. The VA is currently in the process of identifying potential companies who may be interested in licensing and/or further developing the technology through Cooperative Research and Development Agreements (CRADA). Through cooperative research initiatives such as these, it is our hope and goal that commercial products will be fully developed and made available to benefit veterans and others.
VA TECHNOLOGY OPPORTUNITY BRIEF
Exercise Expert System Software
OPPORTUNITY:
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is seeking a commercial partner to further develop this technology through a Cooperative R&D Agreement (CRADA) to expedite bringing it to market.
BACKGROUND:
Appropriate exercise and active lifestyles seems to promote general health
and wellbeing. Increased exercise in the form of moderate, regular physical
activity promotes general health in aging populations. A growing US aging population,
coupled with increasing physical inactivity among the elderly, suggests the
need for exercise interventions that would motivate and increase the likelihood
that older adults will initiate and adhere to regular physical activity. Clearly,
mechanisms are needed to aid the health professionals in developing appropriate
exercise programs and promoting this type of healthful behavior for their older
patients.
TECHNOLOGY OVERVIEW:
The VA has developed the Exercise Expert System
(EES) as a new approach that facilitates the use of exercise counseling as a
preventive health strategy in providing healthcare to senior citizens (elderly
population). It addresses the problem of physical
inactivity and related illnesses among seniors' by helping physicians and other
healthcare professionals design the customized exercise prescriptions most likely
to succeed in individual seniors.
TECHNICAL MERIT:
The EES is a quick, customized and easy to use software
for healthcare practitioners to prescribe exercises to seniors based on American
College of Sports Medicine guidelines. The EES considers seniors' health status,
clinical factors (contraindications to specific types of exercise), social circumstances,
life style, and preferences when recommending a prescription. The EES has shown
reliability and was validated by the consensus of national and international
team of experts in geriatric medicine, exercise physiology, and exercise psychology.
PATENT STATUS:
No patent was filed for this invention. The VA is currently seeking CRADA partners for other fields of use.
FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:
Saleem Sheredos
Program Manager
Technology Transfer Program
Veterans Affairs
Office of Research & Development (12TT)
5th Floor
103 South Gay Street
Baltimore, MD 21202
202-380-5080
Fax 410.962.2141
e-mail: saleem.sheredos@va.gov