By Kevin King
For WisBusiness.com
What do you do when you pull a muscle? Do you ice it? Do you just stay off of it for a while? How do you even know that you strained it? It might hurt, but it’s tough to use a sore muscle as an excuse to get you out of gym class for a week.
Echometrix LLC has developed software to do just that. No, not to get you out of gym class, but to measure the change in musculoskeletal tissue during stress and strain with ultrasound software.
Hirohito Kobayashi, a founder of the company and a current partner, worked as a seismologist in Japan before working on Echometrix. A seismologist studies elastic waves running through the earth during earthquakes. Kobayashi transferred his wave knowledge to muscles and, in 2007, Echometrix was born. The name of the company derives from the theory of acousto-elasticity upon which Kobayashi based his software.
Sam Adams, the chief executive officer of the Madison firm, said 45 percent of magnetic resonance imagingtests prescribed by physicians could be replaced by conventional ultrasound techniques. Echometrix’s technology is compatible with all current ultrasound software so it will be able to improve even that impressive statistic.
Other techniques have been invented that can either examine muscular skeletal tissue, such as an MRI, or to quantify the level of damage, but Echometrix is the first company to create software that does both.
Echomatrix technology has gone through multiple stages of research in cellular, animal, and now clinical studies.
The software is able to help patients with problems in their ligaments, tendons, and muscles. Echometrix performed clinical trials in longitudinal tennis elbow, longitudinal plantar fasciitis, and is currently comparing Achilles tendon injuries against the normal MRI test. Still, a main goal for the company is to help during rehabilitation.
Current rehabilitation methods involve simple resistance tests to analyze injury degree, but Echometrix will be able to “provide a more available objective measurement tool during rehabilitation,” said Adams. Echometrix allows physical therapists the ability to quantify musculoskeletal recovery for their patients.
The company has already started working with a range of organizations to test out the software. The U.S. Naval Health Research Center is currently using the technology to help Marines in the field when they are injured during training. The study focuses on examining Achilles and patellar tendons after rigorous field activity. Running through hills with heavy equipment, Marines tend to make the best research subject as they are generally the same size, fitness level, and are all extremely active.
Working with the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation and the Wisconsin Institute for Medical Research, Echometrix has already been published in top-tier journals such as the Journal of Biomechanics.
The company’s success has definitely not gone by unnoticed. In 2008, Echometrix was a finalist in the Governor’s Business Plan Contest, which awarded them a year’s free rent and helped them kick-start the company. Since then, the company has participated in the Wisconsin Technology Council’s Early Stage Symposium each year.
However, this isn’t the last stop for Echometrix. The company would someday like to oversee the production of compact, portable ultrasound equipment with its software already included. A move like this would help health care providers, athletic trainers and the military to efficiently treat muscle injuries.
“More than one in four Americans has a musculoskeletal condition requiring medical attention. About 28 percent of these conditions were the result of musculoskeletal injuries,” Adams said. “Our products will provide ongoing measurement of tissue rehabilitation, optimizing physical therapy for workers, soldiers and athletes.”
— King is a student in the UW-Madison Department of Life Sciences Communication.
