Recovery Force, LLC, a med tech innovation company, has received a $1.8 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to complete development and clinically validate its flagship product, the Mobile Active Compressions™ (MAC) calf device. The innovative device is designed to prevent occurrences of Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT) while facilitating faster patient mobility and recovery as well as collection of meaningful data for nurses and physicians.

The prestigious grant was awarded through NIH’s highly competitive Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) process and builds off efforts from a previous $244,000 grant from NIH, which demonstrated the need for a new way to address DVT prevention and patient adherence. DVT is a life-threatening condition that affects between 350,000 to 600,000 people annually and is associated with $6B in yearly healthcare costs.

Matt Wyatt, founder and CEO of Recovery Force said, “The NIH award will help Recovery Force gather clinical evidence to accelerate commercialization of our groundbreaking MAC device. Most important, the grant will fortify our efforts to improve patient outcomes and reduce healthcare costs by bringing a completely portable product to market that’s more comfortable than and half the size of existing DVT prevention sleeves.”

Recovery Force has engineered a completely mobile technology that combines breathable, lightweight fabrics in a comfortable form factor that doesn’t require bladders, pumps, cords or electrical stimulation. The quiet, wireless and rechargeable solution delivers a dramatically improved experience and quality of life after surgery, sports performance or other activities.

Jason Bobay, COO of Recovery Force said, ”Success under the previous NIH grant validated the strong need for vast improvements in DVT prevention from both the patient and healthcare system points of view. There’s strong demand for a new technology to better address DVT and leverage patient mobility data in deterring other hospital-acquired conditions and events.”

The $1.8 million NIH award will enable Recovery Force to complete the design of its device and begin testing on patients in two major hospital systems—Eskenazi Health, a partner with Indiana University School of Medicine and Boston-based Tufts Medical Center.

Dr. Karen K. Giuliano, a nurse researcher and associate professor at Northeastern University, who is leading clinical testing at both hospitals said, “I am excited to lead the clinical testing of this innovative device. While our initial testing will focus on enhancing mobility and addressing DVT risk for patients after total joint replacement, the MAC device has the potential to reduce DVT risk as well as significantly improve mobility and care for almost any patient.”

With this latest NIH grant, Recovery Force is well positioned to accelerate product development, testing and research. The company expects the first MAC calf device to be commercially available to hospitals and at-home patients by early 2020.