Towson University alumnus awarded more USM funding for robotics company

By Cody Boteler on August 3, 2020

The University System of Maryland (USM) Momentum Fund has invested another $250,000 in NextStep Robotics Inc., a med-tech company founded by Towson University graduate Brad Hennessie ’09.

Hennessie’s company developed a device called AMBLE, which combines a proprietary artificial intelligence software with a wearable device to aid in foot drop rehabilitation therapy.

“We are pleased to see continued support from the Maryland Momentum Fund,” says Hennessie. “Our plan will first establish AMBLE as the ‘standard of care’ for foot drop, but we see great potential to develop other devices that, combined with our AI-software, will be able to address other disabilities.”

Foot drop is a condition defined by the National Institute of Health National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NIH NINDS) as an inability to raise the front part of the foot due to a weakness or paralysis of the muscles that lift the foot.

It can cause a person to drag their foot or feet, scuff their toes or develop an unusual gait, all of which make a person more likely to fall. Foot drop is a symptom of other underlying problems, including a stroke or multiple sclerosis.

 NextStep Robotics is pursuing a Class II exempt device pathway as an exercise device with the Food and Drug Administration, which would allow in-clinic use of the device to be reimbursed under Current Procedural Terminology codes, which healthcare providers use to bill insurers.

At the same time, product trials based on a cooperative agreement with NIH NINDS are ongoing to support claims that an increase in ankle control, walking speed and safety and heel-first foot landing can prove to be a durable reversal of foot drop.

Hennessie started at TU, where he graduated with a degree in kinesiology, wanting to be a physical therapist. But after an internship with the Maryland Exercise and Robotics Center of Excellence at the Baltimore VA Medical Center, he accepted a position as a lead clinical research specialist there, where he began research on stroke recovery and treating foot drop.

Hennessie, who is also a graduate of University of Maryland Global Campus, founded NextStep in 2017. His company has received millions of dollars in funding, including $5.4 million from the NIH NINDS cooperative agreement and an earlier seeding of $250,000 from the Maryland Momentum Fund in early 2018.

This story is one of several related to President Kim Schatzel’s priorities for Towson University: TU Matters to Maryland and BTU-Partnerships at Work for Greater Baltimore.