# Modular Convertible Child Safety Seat to Improve Usage

> **NIH NIH R44** · MINNESOTA HEALTHSOLUTIONS CORPORATION · 2022 · $848,654

## Abstract

Project Summary/Abstract
Minnesota HealthSolutions Corporation proposes to develop an innovative all-new convertible child safety seat.
Child safety seats are installed in vehicles by properly attaching and tensioning the main anchorage points. Proper
use of the attachments is extremely important as these significantly reduce child head injuries in motor vehicle
crashes. Attachments are inconveniently located on child safety seats and difficult to use. Several large studies
have observed that only 10% to 20% of children are correctly harnessed into correctly installed seats. Improper
use of child restraints substantially reduces their effectiveness and is a major public health concern. The
proposed child safety seat will be extremely easy-to-use and will dramatically increase the visibility and usability of
the attachments. We hypothesize that a child safety seat that provides a convenient, easy-to-use attachment will
significantly improve the rate of proper child safety seat usage and reduce vehicle crash-related child injuries and
deaths. An interdisciplinary team of researchers has been assembled to define, build, and evaluate a prototype
system. The production development will be completed in a rigorous quality-controlled design and testing process
to ensure a safe and effective product is produced.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10380977
- **Project number:** 2R44HD096963-02A1
- **Recipient organization:** MINNESOTA HEALTHSOLUTIONS CORPORATION
- **Principal Investigator:** Nick Rydberg
- **Activity code:** R44 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $848,654
- **Award type:** 2
- **Project period:** 2018-09-01 → 2024-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10380977

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10380977, Modular Convertible Child Safety Seat to Improve Usage (2R44HD096963-02A1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10380977. Licensed CC0.

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