How This Former Apple Employee Created The First Bionic Clothing For Mobility Impairment

Jeremiah

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Published: June 21st, 2022

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Jeremiah

Founder, CIONIC

Founders

Employees

CIONIC

cionic.com

from San Francisco, CA, USA

started

Founders

Employees

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I am the Founder and CEO of CIONIC, a company on a mission to help people with mobility differences move more freely and independently. Many people with neurological conditions like cerebral palsy, multiple sclerosis, and stroke, face limitations in their ability to move freely.

Unfortunately, most readily-available solutions fail to address the underlying neuromuscular system. This means that instead of helping to strengthen muscles and reinforce neuroplasticity, they often accelerate muscle weakness and a decline in community participation.

At CIONIC, our core goal is to provide a solution that both assists with mobility in real-time as well as retrains and strengthens the body over time. We developed the first bionic clothing that analyzes and augments movement, enabling the body to move with more freedom and control.

Our first product is the Cionic Neural Sleeve, which recently received FDA clearance. Our early adopter Founder’s Program sold out in just a few weeks. The Neural Sleeve is easy to wear and fits like a legging.

What's your backstory and how did you come up with the idea?

My daughter has cerebral palsy and I know firsthand the frustrating lack of effective solutions available to people with mobility challenges.

I spent twenty years driving innovation in sensing and machine learning at Apple, Openwave Systems, Slide, and Jawbone. Most of my career has been spent at the intersection of data, algorithms, and the human body. Some of my earliest work was on the Apple Newton, working on handwriting recognition algorithms. That’s where I fell in love with the idea of ubiquitous technology that would be seamlessly integrated into our lives.

I later sold my first company to Jawbone where it became the algorithms and motivation engine behind the Up system, a non-invasive tracker.

I knew that the same technological advances that propelled other industries forward, like self-driving cars and reusable rockets, could also be used to understand human mobility and augment movement in real-time. It became my mission to make that possibility a reality, and I left my job and started doing research and building prototypes in my garage.

Take us through the process of designing, prototyping, and manufacturing your first product.

The concept for the Cionic Neural Sleeve was to combine the diagnostic power of a multi-million dollar gait lab with the therapeutic power of FES into a garment that could be easily worn by my daughter and help her move without limits.

During the development process, our team evaluated many different form factors and spoke with potential users to guide the product development. The device needed to be not only effective but attractive and easy to use. The Neural Sleeve is constructed with soft, flexible fabric and looks more like a performance legging rather than a therapeutic aid.

Inside the Neural Sleeve, we have packed our breakthrough read-write neural interface. When it comes to neurological injury and disease, there are gaps in muscle firing that prevent an individual from moving with a full range of motion and stability. The Neural Sleeve helps fill in those gaps by augmenting the individual’s movement in real-time. First, it uses our dense array of sensors to measure how the body is positioned and how individual muscles are firing during movement.

Next, our algorithms analyze this data in real-time to determine optimal muscle activation patterns. Finally, our proprietary stimulation array steers current to the appropriate muscle groups to achieve a more stable, normative gait pattern. The Neural Sleeve updates with every single step. It is easily controlled with the CIONIC app, where users can personalize their settings and treatment plan.

During the prototyping, we conducted extensive research trials to ensure the efficacy of the product within our target populations. These tests were held in multiple locations and represented a wide variety of diagnoses, including stroke, multiple sclerosis, spinal cord injury, and cerebral palsy.

The most common mobility impairment across these groups is foot drop. This is characterized by the inability to lift the foot (otherwise known as dorsiflexion) during the swing phase of gait, which can lead to instability and falls. It is also often accompanied by an inward rotation of the ankle (inversion) which further increases fall risk.

In our trials, 94% of participants experienced increased dorsiflexion at heel strike, and 88% of participants experienced reduced ankle inversion during a swing. This contributed to an average combined improvement of 9° across all participants. In short, we help people with mobility issues walk more easily.

Based on these results, we were confident that we had developed a breakthrough, effective product. We submitted the Neural Sleeve to the FDA in November of 2021 and recently received clearance.

Describe the process of launching the business.

I spent ten years experiencing a frustrating duality: professionally, I was a technologist building exciting products that were redefining how technology could understand and interact with the human body. I was a parent frustrated by the lack of effective mobility solutions for my daughter. There had to be more options for mobility than crutches and walkers.

I was confident that there was a better solution and left my job to build it. I started in my garage, creating prototypes of garments that could be worn on the body to analyze movement, predict what would happen next, and ultimately augment that movement. When I had done enough prototyping and I was confident we could create a breakthrough solution, I formed the company in 2018 and raised a seed round.

Since launch, what has worked to attract and retain customers?

Over the past few years, we have formed close relationships with our amazing community of test pilots as well as with academic and clinical partners. They have seen and experienced the positive impact of the Cionic Neural Sleeve on mobility, and have been spreading the word. We formed these relationships by identifying like-minded individuals and teams and working with them to best utilize the technology to help advance the work they are doing.

After announcing FDA clearance, we began taking pre-orders for our early adopter Founder’s Program. We were overwhelmed by the demand and quickly surpassed our sales targets, selling out the program in the first several weeks fueled by word-of-mouth. The first sleeves are slated to ship later this year.

Surround yourself with people you can trust and want to spend time with. I've been fortunate to work with many of the CIONIC team members in the past, and know I can count on them and that we work well together.

How are you doing today and what does the future look like?

We are extremely proud of the progress we have made already and what the future has in store for CIONIC. Our work is motivated by our users and fueled by data and scientific rigor.

Stay focused on what matters. I articulate this idea as “stay humble, stay working.” You need to keep your humility because once you lose it, it prevents you from really doing something extraordinary.

We will continue to conduct research with different populations and diagnoses to inform our product pipeline and introduce new therapeutics. CIONIC’s technology is also built on our open augmentation platform, which means that mobility innovation can happen at software speeds and software costs.

Through starting the business, have you learned anything particularly helpful or advantageous?

There are a few things that have been important to our success. First, we embraced the regulatory process. We understood that the FDA was our partner in getting the most effective product to market and were extremely diligent in making sure that our submission was as comprehensive as possible.

Second, building wearables is extremely challenging, and we knew we needed to do our homework to ensure that we could deliver on our mission to create the most advanced, but also most usable, mobility solution. Integrating sophisticated technology into a garment form factor from factor is difficult because it requires a very diverse range of materials. To overcome this challenge, we built a team of experts and conducted rigorous research and testing to ensure that we were creating the best possible product.

First, find something you care deeply about. When you are passionate about your mission and believe in what you’re doing, you can power through the ups and downs of starting a new business.

What platform/tools do you use for your business?

We built our platform from the ground up, amassing a vast database of human mobility. Our entire system is built on this platform, from the CIONIC app which is how our users control the Neural Sleeve, to research tools, to remote monitoring capabilities for providers to track patient progress over time.

What have been the most influential books, podcasts, or other resources?

I love all books about arctic exploration. Two of my favorites are Endurance by Alfred Lansing and Alone On the Ice by David Roberts.

These explorers are the original frontier tech entrepreneurs, raising capital, life or death problem solving, all to achieve the impossible.

Advice for other entrepreneurs who want to get started or are just starting out?

First, find something you care deeply about. When you are passionate about your mission and believe in what you’re doing, you can power through the ups and downs of starting a new business.

Next, surround yourself with people you can trust and want to spend time with. I've been fortunate to work with many of the CIONIC team members in the past, and know I can count on them and that we work well together. Working for a start-up is challenging but incredibly rewarding, and a strong team dynamic is essential to success.

Finally, stay focused on what matters. I articulate this idea as “stay humble, stay working.” You need to keep your humility because once you lose it, it prevents you from really doing something extraordinary.

Are you looking to hire for certain positions right now?

We are always looking for amazing people to join the CIONIC team. We post openings on our website.

Where can we go to learn more?

Our website and newsletter are the first places that new products and company announcements will appear. Sign up here. Otherwise, follow us on social media:

If you have any questions or comments, drop a comment below!

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