# Wearable shear-wave tensiometry for tracking tendon load during dynamic movement

> **NIH NIH R42** · DESIGN CONCEPTS, INC · 2020 · $805,387

## Abstract

Project Summary
The goal of this project is to commercialize a wireless, wearable system to estimate the tension in superficial
tendons throughout the limbs during dynamic movements. Tendon tension provides an estimate of muscle
force, which is important information for understanding biomechanical behavior in all types of movement.
Understanding muscle-tendon function inside the body is especially important for rehabilitation from
musculoskeletal injuries: this information can elucidate the effectiveness of therapy, provide biofeedback to
improve this effectiveness, and evaluate the level of impairment and recovery as a person progresses through
recovery. Yet, muscle-tendon function has previously been difficult to measure. Tendon tensiometry uses skin-
mounted accelerometers to track the propagation of shear waves along a tendon, after the waves are induced
by a light mechanical tap on the tendon. The speed of wave propagation depends on the tension in the tendon,
so measuring wave speed provides a measurement of tendon tension.
The proposed project will build and test a wearable system to make these tendon tension measurements
during free movement. These measurements promise to enable new methods of injury assessment,
rehabilitation, and treatment of musculoskeletal disorders. This will refine current prototype tensiometry
technology into a commercial product to allow convenient outdoor wearable data collections of muscle-tendon
mechanics. It will refine the skin-mounted sensor and mounting sleeves for different joints and tendons. It will
integrate drive and data logging electronics into a convenient, wearable multi-channel controller. It will create
efficient programs to process the signals for real-time data streaming, and user interfaces for clinical
monitoring of tendon tensiometry in common movements. The project will also develop means of convenient
subject-specific calibration. Human subjects testing will be performed to establish a database of tendon loading
profiles in healthy young and older adults. Finally, the research will develop methods to fuse tendon tension
data with wearable movement sensor data to improve the quality of biomechanical insight available from real-
world testing.
The Specific Aims of this project are:
1. Establish a wearable shear wave tensiometer that is usable on multiple tendons by non-experts.
2. Build a software system for real-time wireless transmission and display of tensiometer metrics.
3. Integrate wearable tensiometers and inertial sensors to enable motion analysis in the real world.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10158240
- **Project number:** 2R42AR074897-02
- **Recipient organization:** DESIGN CONCEPTS, INC
- **Principal Investigator:** Peter G Adamczyk
- **Activity code:** R42 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $805,387
- **Award type:** 2
- **Project period:** 2020-09-05 → 2023-02-28

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10158240

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10158240, Wearable shear-wave tensiometry for tracking tendon load during dynamic movement (2R42AR074897-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10158240. Licensed CC0.

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