High-tech shoe insert lands $1M federal grant

[Business Journal, May 30, 2013] A Twin Cities startup that has developed a high-tech shoe insert called the Walkasins® has landed a $1 million federal grant that it will use to conduct clinical trials.

Lars Oddsson, director of the Sister Kenny Research Center, developed the technology behind the Walkasins®, which can detect whether a person is about to lose his or her balance and fall. The insert connects to a cuff that wraps around patients' legs and vibrates when they sway too much in one direction, or show another sign of losing balance.