# BandPass: A Remote Monitoring System for Sarcopenia and Functional Decline

> **NIH NIH R41** · SYNCHROHEALTH LLC · 2021 · $224,700

## Abstract

ABSTRACT
Clinical Need: As the US population ages, managing pathologies that largely affect older adults, including sarcopenia
(e.g., loss of muscle mass and strength), represents a significant and growing clinical challenge. In addition to
increased rates of sarcopenia with age, it is well-accepted that its incidence and impact increases after acute illness,
placing persons at additional risk for functional decline, institutionalization, or death. Resistance-based exercises
promote muscle regeneration and strength, and are an advised therapy for such patients. Yet, exercises are normally
conducted either under direct clinical oversight, or unsupervised by patients at home, where compliance rates are low.
Limitations: Current regimens rely on self-report diaries or verbal reports that may be inaccurate and subject to recall
bias. Remote monitoring systems that measure, track, analyze, and provide patient-oriented feedback may overcome
these limitations and enhance exercise regimen engagement. An at-home device that monitors and transmits exercise
data to the user and clinician represents a potential solution to this clinical challenge. Our Product – BandPass is a
remote-sensing, bluetooth-enabled resistance exercise band that will accurately gauge force through a potentiometric
sensor rigidly fixed to elastic-tubing purposely designed for resistance training. The device is similar to currently
available exercise bands familiar to clinicians and patients, with the significant novel addition of integrated force
monitoring and internet-connectivity. A mobile app and cloud-based platform will provide computational resources for
data visualization, storage and analysis, which will enable direct patient feedback, clinical monitoring of patient
compliance and progress, and serve as a platform for more advanced operations such as automatic exercise-type
classification to ease user burden (e.g., minimizing required interactions between the user and mobile device). We
hypothesize that BandPass will provide clinically relevant data on compliance and use of exercise training with
feedback that will be personalized. Specific Objectives: We specifically propose to design custom electronics and
housing for BandPass and to perform in-lab validation studies of device accuracy, precision, and long-term stability.
BandPass will be interfaced to a mobile app and cloud-based platform we will implement for data transmission,
storage, and analysis. Finally, we will deploy BandPass in a human subjects pilot study to demonstrate usability and
system stability in an at-home setting. Future Directions: SynchroHealth is a small company developing an mHealth
platform that uses internet-connected devices to help improve quality of life in older adults. This device will
complement our existing efforts. By the end of this Phase 1 effort, we will have demonstrated that BandPass is
functional in a human population and we will have provided evidence that this approach can be deplo...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10152884
- **Project number:** 1R41AG071290-01
- **Recipient organization:** SYNCHROHEALTH LLC
- **Principal Investigator:** Ryan Joseph Halter
- **Activity code:** R41 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $224,700
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2021-01-01 → 2023-12-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10152884

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10152884, BandPass: A Remote Monitoring System for Sarcopenia and Functional Decline (1R41AG071290-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10152884. Licensed CC0.

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