SCI-FI to SCI-FACT: The Tripless Shoe

A NASA scientist has come up with a nifty new show that is designed to help astronauts regain normal Earth balance after spending long periods in zero gravity aboard the International Space Station and future space flights to Mars and beyond.

It now seems that the shoe has a benefit for the Earth-bound elderly. It can aid them from serious falls that could cause severe fractures or even death.

Dubbed the “iShoe,” it contains an insole lined with sensors that can read a person’s balance in relation to Earth gravity. The data acquired in the sensors can then be analyzed by physicians and physcial therapists and set in motion necessary treatments or medications that can help keep the person from future falls.

“You gradually get worse and worse at balancing,” said Erez Lieberman, developer of the shoe and a scientist working jointly for NASA and the Harvard-Massachusetts Institute of Technology health science and technology departments. “If you know the problem is there, you can start addressing the problem.”

Groups like AARP (American Association of Retired People) and the National Osteoporosis Foundation are hailing the iShoe as a device that will save thousands from serious injury, particualry the elder who tend to get hip fractures or spine compression fractures from falls.

“It’s [falls] a huge issue,” said Elinor Ginzler of the AARP. “It significantly impairs your ability to stay independent, which is what people want.”

[AP Photo: Erez Lieberman displays the “iShoe” he developed]