Patrick Steusloff takes a swing with a Clubhub-equipped golf club
Scott MacDonald holds up an iPad paired to the Clubhub that displays information about Patrick's swing
Patrick Steusloff points out bowtie-shaped path (purple) of his stride and center of balance (blue dot) on an iPad that communicates with sensors in his removable shoe insole inserts
Patrick Steusloff is a startup technologist and was a product developer for early biotech companies in San Diego. At Hybritech he developed automated immunoassays systems and was Vice President of Development for Pyxis that provides medication and supply management systems. After founding IntelliDot Corporation, now PatientSafe Solutions, which delivers real-time patient information to clinicians, he took a break and pursued his passion: golf. He studied to become a professional golfer, but at heart he remained a product developer.
One of the most important factors in a golf swing is balance that comes from properly timed weight transfer. Steusloff began thinking about ways that he could help golfers learn effective weight transfer, and he began with bathroom scales, wired together at oriented at 45˚ angles, to capture information about weight distribution between the golfer’s right and left heels and toes. These early efforts led him to found Kinetek Sports and develop Clubhub, a sensor that fits into the drain hole at the end of a golf club grip. Using the Clubhub paired with an app on a smart phone or tablet, golfers can get real-time feedback and analysis on every swing they make. They see how far and where their shots went (and get GPS information on distances to the hole) and a 3-D video of their swing path. All of these data can be shared with instructors to help improve swing mechanics.
While working with Kinetek, Steusloff had an office in Rancho Bernardo, where he would often see a physical therapist, who had a neighboring office, working with patients who were recovering from stroke or other brain injuries. Talking with the therapist, he realized that, as in golf, balance is a main issue for those learning to walk after a brain injury.
Thinking back to the bathroom scales, Steusloff considered potential devices that could give brain injury patients real time feedback about their gait. He designed a shoe insert that incorporates five sensors in the insole that are positioned under the heel, the “knuckles of the toes” and under the big toe. These inserts can be tailored to the patient’s foot and directly communicate with a smart phone or tablet to show him/her their center of balance and stride path. Through real-time feedback patients can immediately see whether their gait is on the right path, and together with a physical therapist they can develop strategies to improve their balance and gait. Most importantly, the device allows them to practice on their own, or with a caregiver, to ensure that they get the repetitions they need gain new muscle memory. This device is in its early development stages, but has already helped several patients with brain injury improve their mobility and return to daily activities.