The Need
Muscle atrophy significantly impacts quality of life in patients with critical illness, chronic disease, aging, and even spaceflight. Current gold-standard diagnostic tools such as MRI, CT, and ultrasound are expensive, operator-dependent, and impractical for routine or home-based monitoring. There is a critical need for a low-cost, easy-to-use, and accurate solution that enables frequent, remote, and self-administered monitoring of muscle loss, especially outside of clinical settings.

The Technology
This technology, developed by OSU researchers, is a wearable electromagnetic sensor that monitors muscle atrophy using changes in limb circumference. Built on Faraday’s law of induction, the sensor features stretchable, inductively coupled coils embedded in a soft sleeve. As the limb’s cross-sectional area changes, the magnetic flux and voltage measured between the coils shift accordingly. These voltage changes are interpreted by a controller to calculate circumference, enabling continuous or periodic tracking of muscle volume in a non-invasive and automated manner.

Commercial Applications
• Remote patient monitoring (cancer, neurological, inflammatory)
• At-home management of sarcopenia in aging populations
• Daily use by astronauts during space missions
• Rehabilitation monitoring for orthopedic or neurological conditions
• Athletic training and recovery assessment

Benefits/Advantages
• Low-cost: Significantly cheaper than imaging-based diagnostics
• Self-administered: No technician or operator required
• Scalable: Multiple sensors can monitor multiple body sites
• Non-invasive & wearable: Comfortable sleeve format for daily use
• Integration-ready: Potential for pairing with other health-monitoring sensors

Patent application filed