InvoTek Receives $150,000 NIH Award

Alma-based research and development company InvoTek Inc. has announced the reception of a $150,000 grant from the National Institutes of Health.

The Phase I Small Business Innovation Research grant will fund the creation of a tool enabling children and adults with disabilities to enter text up to 64 percent more efficiently than with existing tools. The “gesture” product is the result of a collaboration between InvoTek and researchers at the Madonna Rehabilitation Hospital in Lincoln, Nebraska.

The “gesture” product, unlike current “swipe” technology, uses software that allows the user to enter partial words and then predicts and completes the word for them. People with disabilities who used early prototypes were highly satisfied and reported a significant reduction in effort needed to complete a writing task, according to the release.

“Approximately seven million children and adults in the United States have disabilities that hinder their ability to communicate,” InvoTek president Tom Jakobs said in a news release. “These disabilities include spinal cord injuries, cerebral palsy, muscular dystrophy, ALS, multiple sclerosis, stroke, and Guillain-Barre syndrome.

“This software gives them a simple way to enter text into a computer or speech generating device without requiring precise muscle movements.”