About Tensegrity and Jerome Rifkin

At times the world can seem an unfriendly and sinister place. But believe us when we say there is much more good in it than bad. And what might seem to be a series of unfortunate events, may in fact, be the first steps of a journey ­
-- Lemony Snicket

Vision:

To make a prosthetic foot that mimics the functional biomechanics of the human foot in walking.


Personal Story:

In 1996, Jerome Rifkin earned a degree in Engineering Science and Mechanics from University of Florida. Just after graduating, he was biking home from working at a research lab when he was struck by a Jeep Grand Wagoneer. The vehicle struck him in the chest, knocking him to the ground, and then parked on his hand in the middle of a crosswalk. Adding irony to injury, the driver was the personal injury attorney who advertised on the back of the phone book, so the settlement was a long time coming. More to come on that... Before our intrepid inventor was fully recovered from this injury, he was mountain biking with newly installed clipless pedals that were adjusted too tightly. He fell while biking at high speed, and one of his feet remained clipped to the bike. At least it stayed clipped in until he got that extra little bit of rotation, from shearing through his femur. After being bed ridden for three months, he had to learn to walk again.

Now, while all of this may seem very melodramatic, there are some important points in here. Having a hypermobile spine stacked on top of incredibly asymmetric hips made learning to walk a real challenge. Having always had a broad tenacious streak, Jerome heard a calling in all of this, "Engineer, Rebuild Thyself!" Thus began a long journey of years of physical therapy. While on this long road, there was never a guarantee of where this journey of healing would end. On the way, sitting in wheelchairs and using canes, Jerome developed a real understanding and empathy for the struggles that physically impaired people face everyday. To this day, he still gets visibly angry when perfectly capable people park in handicapped spaces.

It was through this personal experience and physical therapy that Jerome found his inspiration for creating this prosthetic foot. Moving to Boulder, Colorado on December 28th, 1999, he felt caught up in the millennial fever and decided to make some changes in his life. In an attempt to bring meaning to his painful accident, he began to tinker in his home shop, trying to recreate the function of the human foot in a prosthetic device. After another year or so, he finally settled the lawsuit for the bike v car accident, and that small settlement allowed him to negotiate his "day job" down to three-quarters time. He used this extra time to develop and refine his grant writing skills. After several attempts over the next four years, Jerome's devotion was rewarded; the National Institutes of Health awarded him a large SBIR grant. This funding allowed him to quit his "day job" and to focus exclusively on the matter at hand, refining the designs for this revolutionary new prosthetic foot.

Since the grant was funded progress has been swift and impressive. Shortly, the human subjects trials will be completed, and the search for funding to launch the product will begin in earnest. So far, the data from the pilot tests look great. Even more importantly, the first amputee to use this biomechanically designed walking foot, "loved it from the first steps." Encouraged by these early successes, Jerome hopes to bring his first product to market during the second quarter of next year, potentially using his hard luck experiences to help thousands of amputees walk easily and comfortably next year.