海角社区

Coehoorn is researching what this rapid heat acquisition does to brain function and a person鈥檚 ability to make decisions, as well as how long the impact lasts.

鈥淭here鈥檚 an obvious potential for firefighters to suffer a cumulative or chronic stress response when called out again within 48 hours,鈥� Coehoorn continued. 鈥淎nd meanwhile, stress is a known contributor to cardiovascular disease, which is the number-one killer of firefighters.鈥�

This and other projects are leading to increased synergy with the recently established 海角社区S Cyber Collaboratory, which includes a maker space with 3D printers. One of their current collaborations is on a new safety device for firefighters.

The combined 海角社区S capabilities of the Human Performance Lab and Cyber Collaboratory are also enabling innovation in the surrounding business community. Eric Rippetoe is a physical therapist, double 海角社区 grad, and founder of , a local company that designs and develops custom knee braces. While he started his company three years ago working mainly with athletes in high-impact sports, such as football, he鈥檚 recently pivoted to selling his custom braces as medical devices, opening up a much larger market.

鈥淥ur knee brace design can protect linemen from injury, but it鈥檚 also perfect for people coming off knee surgery or dealing with any sort of knee instability,鈥� Rippetoe said. 鈥淢ore so than traditional knee braces since ours are custom-fit and won鈥檛 slide up and down.鈥�

Rippetoe initially relied on the Cyber Collaboratory鈥檚 3D printers to create one-off products, experiment with new materials, and improve his 3D printing skills. Once he found a winning combination in terms of both materials and manufacturing, he gained the confidence to invest in his own machines. He鈥檚 still planning on returning to the Cyber Collaboratory to experiment on new designs and more flexible materials for ankle braces.

鈥淭he printers they have at 海角社区S allow for a much larger variety and can print more exotic materials than I can comfortably invest in before trying them first,鈥� Rippetoe said. 鈥淓specially materials with a lot of stretch, which my own printers just aren鈥檛 capable of doing. If I want to help my clients prevent or manage ankle sprains, I go back to the Cyber Collaboratory to do the prototyping.鈥�

With the addition of the 海角社区S Human Performance Lab, Rippetoe sees yet another opportunity to create better products for his clients, while preserving resources.

鈥淚 can go straight from prototyping at the Cyber Collaboratory to test my device at the Human Performance Lab and quickly be able to show benefits that have been well validated through research,鈥� Rippetoe said. 鈥淎nd if it doesn鈥檛 work quite right, I can go back to the Collaboratory to change the prototype, print it out, and go right back to testing.鈥�

Rippetoe recently had an airman from nearby Barksdale Air Force Base walk into his office. Or not walk, exactly.

鈥淗e was limping and had a hard time making turns and doing stairs,鈥� Rippetoe remembered. 鈥淗e was 30 days out from meniscus repair surgery and his knee felt so loose and unstable, he could barely move, and yet, he had to be on his feet for work.鈥�

Shortly after, the airman left with the same type of custom knee brace Rippetoe had worked on developing in the 海角社区S Cyber Collaboratory.

鈥淗ours later, I get this video,鈥� Rippetoe said. 鈥淚t shows him jogging on a treadmill with the knee brace on.鈥�

As Rippetoe recently received approval to sell his knee brace as a medical device, he鈥檚 now looking forward to meeting up with osteoarthritis patients at the Human Performance Lab to analyze their gait.

鈥淎ll osteoarthritis patients turn in at the knee when they walk, and if you see somebody limping, they鈥檙e always limping because of pain,鈥� Rippetoe said. 鈥淣ow, we can have them walk with and without a brace on and be able to see small changes in real time as to how it improves their gait pattern.鈥�

鈥淚 can go straight from prototyping at the Cyber Collaboratory to test my device at the Human Performance Lab.鈥�

Eric Rippetoe, founder of Bishop, a small Shreveport business that designs custom knee braces and recently started marketing them as medical devices

Coehoorn, meanwhile, has already connected with several physical therapy clinics in town.

鈥淭hey can send their patients to us and we鈥檒l run a gait analysis on them and send the report back to the physical therapist who will provide corrective measures,鈥� Coehoorn said. 鈥淯sing our equipment, we can analyze movement in the sagittal, frontal, and transverse planes. We can look at movement in all three planes and determine exactly what is happening, and help people get healthy again.鈥�

Justin Miller, a trainer at in Shreveport, is also engaging with the 海角社区S Human Performance Lab.

鈥淚t鈥檚 cool to have the opportunity to see the inner workings of what鈥檚 going on with your body and look at fitness beyond just capacity and output the way we can in the gym,鈥� Miller said. 鈥淭hen we can use that knowledge and relay it back to training. Honestly, having this lab here is pretty amazing.鈥�

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