Home-based gait monitoring to spot early cognitive decline in people at risk for Alzheimer’s
Official title: A Gait and Path Tortuosity System for Monitoring Cognitive Decline in Individuals at Risk for Alzheimer's Disease and/or Alzheimer's Disease Related Dementias (AD/ADRD)
Funded at Innovative Design Labs, INC. · NIH-11192383 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This project uses unobtrusive home sensors that watch how people walk to find early signs of memory and thinking problems in older adults at risk for Alzheimer’s disease.
Quick facts
| Grant type | Sbir 2 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Innovative Design Labs, INC. NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Minneapolis, United States) |
| Project start | April 1, 2019 |
| Project end | May 31, 2027 |
| Funding year | 2025 |
| Award (this year) | $880,400 |
| NIH project number | 5R44AG063679-03 |
| Project ID | NIH-11192383 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Adults at risk for Alzheimer’s disease or related dementias who live independently in the community and can walk without full assistance are the ideal candidates.
✕Less likely to help
People who are non-ambulatory, need full-time physical assistance, or live in places where home sensors cannot be installed are unlikely to benefit from this system.
What this research studies
If you take part, small sensors will record your walking patterns without you needing to wear special devices. The system measures 3-D gait features and path tortuosity (how straight or winding your walking path is) and sends data to algorithms that look for changes linked to thinking and memory. The team will finish production-ready hardware and software, optimize the gait-estimation algorithms, and test the system both in the lab and in real-world community settings. Collected walking data will be compared to standard cognitive measures to see if the sensors reliably reflect changes in cognition.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this could provide early, passive signals to caregivers and clinicians about subtle mobility changes tied to worsening memory so care and planning can start sooner.
How similar studies have gone: Prior research has linked gait changes to cognitive decline and early sensor-based pilot work is promising, but widespread clinical adoption is not yet established.
Where this research is happening
-
Innovative Design Labs, INC.
Minneapolis, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Condon, John Paul — Innovative Design Labs, INC.
- Study coordinator: Condon, John Paul
Related research
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About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.