{"682048":{"#nid":"682048","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Female Founders Alumni Talk Patient Care with AI and Wearable Sensors","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EAccording to the National Institutes of Health, \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/articles\/PMC5403611\/#:~:text=Like%20knee%20OA%2C%20foot%2Fankle,consultations%20in%20this%20population6.\u0022\u003Enearly one-fourth\u003C\/a\u003E of the U.S. population over age 45 suffers from foot and ankle issues, which reduce their quality of life, adversely affect walking and other daily functions, and increase the risk of falls.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFor orthopedic patients recovering from surgery, walking properly can speed recovery, enabling them to more quickly regain mobility and quality of life. Walking issues or problems with one\u2019s gait can also indicate larger medical problems, from vascular disease to brain, nerve, or spinal cord injuries.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThree alumni from Georgia Tech\u2019s School of Electrical and Computer Engineering and School of Bioengineering hope to help doctors and patients analyze walking patterns through their wearable sensor startup,\u0026nbsp; \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.stridelinkinc.com\/\u0022\u003EStrideLink\u003C\/a\u003E.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cIn the same way a cardiologist puts an EKG on you to monitor your heart, we essentially have designed that for walking ability,\u201d says StrideLink founder and CEO Marzeah \u201cZea\u201d Khorramabadi.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EInitially targeting orthopedic practices for their platform, the HIPAA-compliant system wirelessly analyzes patients\u2019 gaits to help doctors remotely monitor their walking ability before and after surgery to better address issues and provide more personalized treatment.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe 26-year-old Georgia Tech graduate of computer engineering founded StrideLink in 2021 with two other Tech students: Cassandra McIltrot, a 2022 biomedical and medical engineering graduate, and Neel Narvekar, who completed his computer engineering studies in 2021.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESince starting StrideLink, the three have raised just under $1 million in pre-seed funding and are now starting their seed funding push.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EMcIltrot, 24, serves as research director at StrideLink. She says talking to surgeons, physical therapists, and patients was invaluable in building the StrideLink platform, which includes a physical sensor that connects via Bluetooth to a mobile platform. Orthopedic physicians can then access a secure interface to view their patients\u2019 gait data.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cBeing able to learn from all those people helped us build something that will bring value,\u201d she says.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ENarvekar, the startup\u2019s CTO, calls the technology \u201ca game-changer,\u201d noting, \u201cFor the first time, we can widely collect clinically relevant gait data. Starting in orthopedics, this means we can build datasets to predict recovery timelines, identify when patients are off track, and intervene before adverse events occur. Ultimately, this will pave the way for improved care across a range of health conditions.\u0022\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe enterprising entrepreneurs didn\u2019t do it alone. They leveraged \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/create-x.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ECREATE-X\u003C\/a\u003E, which supports students in launching successful startups through education, coaching, funding, and other resources.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBelow, Khorramabadi and McIltrot share more about their journey as members of the first cohort of CREATE-X\u2019s \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/create-x.gatech.edu\/female-founders\u0022\u003EFemale Founders\u003C\/a\u003E program in Fall 2020. In Summer 2021, the duo completed \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/create-x.gatech.edu\/launch\/startup-launch\u0022\u003EStartup Launch\u003C\/a\u003E, a 12-week summer accelerator that helps students launch startups. \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EDid you two always want to start your own business?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EKhorramabadi:\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/strong\u003EIt was kind of inevitable for Cassie and me. My dad immigrated from Iran and met my mom here. He started his own business selling cars. So, I grew up with a family that was running a small business. I\u2019ve always had that in me, and it was the expectation that I would go to college. I picked Georgia Tech specifically because they had showcased the CREATE-X program during the tour.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMcIltrot:\u003C\/strong\u003E My dad had a construction consulting business, and my mom was a nurse. That\u2019s where the medical influence came from for me. He\u2019s also an engineer. The summer that we decided to pursue this, I was doing research on stroke rehab at Emory.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EHow did you come up with\u0026nbsp; your big idea? \u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EKhorramabadi\u003C\/strong\u003E: In the middle of the pandemic, there was a lot of emphasis on technology \u2014 leaving the clinic and being in a patient\u0027s home. How are we going to deliver healthcare effectively when patients aren\u0027t directly in front of their doctor?\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAt the same time, Cassie was doing stroke research, and there was a lot around how heavily walking ability, walking patterns, or your gait is affected. We talked to healthcare professionals, physical therapists, surgeons, everyone. And it was clear that there was a pretty big gap in the market in terms of the technology that would serve these patients who have any symptoms that show up in their walking ability. It wasn\u2019t measured at all. So, we ended up landing on a gait monitor as a solution.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWe realized there was a very immediate, straightforward need for our product in orthopedics. If you\u0027re getting a knee replacement, ankle, or foot surgery, it\u0027s valuable to be able to put this product on a patient preoperatively to better prepare them for surgery. Surgeons can take real measurements of what their patients\u2019 walking ability looks like before surgery and then track them throughout the entirety of their post-op recovery, which can be three months, six months, or even 12 months.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EHow does the solution work?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EKhorramabadi:\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/strong\u003EWe\u0026nbsp;designed our platform from the ground up. Our physical sensor connects to a mobile application. That mobile application connects to an entire cloud architecture that has processing servers and database storage. On the physician side, we have an interface for them to view data that fits into their workflow, including receiving insurance reimbursement. The technology component was designed in-house by Neil and me, given our backgrounds in computer engineering.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAre you using AI or advanced analytics in your platform?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EKhorramabadi:\u003C\/strong\u003E We have a lot of very advanced data processing methods that are entirely proprietary to our system. We\u2019ve acquired enough data from all of the patients we\u0027ve seen with Emory, and now we\u0027re tracking patients remotely, where we are starting to use real clinical data to train AI to deliver a performance score to these patients. It\u2019s essentially one number that rates how you\u2019re doing related to a healthy or normal gait. We\u0027re already using AI right now, and that\u0027s something that\u0027s going to be released with our product within the next six months.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhere are you in terms of product maturity?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EKhorramabadi:\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/strong\u003EWe recently started with our first fully remote full-time customer. Before that, we were doing research with another physician at Emory, where they had used it for over a year. At this point, they\u0027ve tracked over 250 patients, where they put the sensors on at their pre-op appointment and then track them during post-op follow-ups.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThey weren\u2019t sent home with the sensors until our sensor was FDA-listed last year, and then we started our first pilot with a private practice in Amelia Island, Florida, last October. That has gone incredibly well, so we just expanded to an orthopedic practice in Alabama, and we should be getting two more practices started in 2025. We\u0027ve solidified the product fit, and we\u2019re now at the point of scaling it. We also have a research partnership with Children\u0027s Hospital Colorado to work on a pediatrics application.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhat was most helpful about the CREATE-X programs you participated in at Georgia Tech?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EKhorramabadi:\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/strong\u003EGeorgia Tech makes exploring doing a startup easy and low-risk for any student. The fact that it was so accessible was monumental early on. In terms of programming, the most valuable part was the emphasis on customer discovery. They did a good job, saying, \u201cYou don\u0027t know what to build until you talk to enough customers.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWe needed a mentor as part of our first startup class, and we read how James Stubbs, a tenured professor in biomedical engineering, was a previous founder. He\u2019d done a couple of medical device companies that had been acquired. At our first meeting, he told us we need to talk to people. From a business standpoint, it made more sense for us to go to orthopedics rather than physical therapy for a whole host of reasons. But the biggest takeaway of talking to customers was a very consistent experience with both the Startup Launch and the Female Founders program.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMcIltrot:\u003C\/strong\u003E The Female Founders program did a fantastic job of that, where we set goals as teams and were encouraged to talk to as many people we think are going to be our customers. We then met as a group and presented what we learned. \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ESo you have to get out of get out of your comfort zone, and not be shy about engaging with people.\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp;Cassie,\u0026nbsp;what was the big benefit for you?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMcIltrot:\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/strong\u003EWe were the first cohort for Female Founders. We checked in every week with our team. Everyone would talk about what they learned that week while talking to people. We were the only medical-focused startup in the program, but being able to share the experience of how we approached people allowed us to learn from each other. We like keeping up with each other on LinkedIn. We learned one of the people in our cohort just closed a funding round.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EIs having a community of other women entrepreneurs helpful?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EKhorramabadi:\u003C\/strong\u003E Definitely. We\u2019ve gotten a lot out of building a network, especially coming from starting this out of college, where you don\u0027t have any industry connections built up yet. \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhat has been the biggest value from your experience participating in Startup Launch?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EKhorramabadi:\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/strong\u003ENetworking has been the biggest value for both Startup Launch and Female Founders. Both of those programs emphasized networking and customer discovery. Being involved in both programs at the same time kept us focused on that.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EStartup Launch was a good crash course in how you set up your company from a legal aspect, as well as the conversations you need to have with your co-founders, and this is how you pitch and how you raise investment. All these topics are very foreign, and there\u0027s not a lot of good information out there on them. So, it was important to have that in the program. It was also nice to connect with Georgia Tech founders who had started companies and seen some success. The program brought them in to talk to us and share what they\u0027d learned. It was nice to have that extra guidance.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhat is the biggest benefit of your innovation?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EKhorramabadi:\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/strong\u003EThe biggest value is knowing how you\u0027re doing right now, and also, if you\u0027re not doing well, your physician being able to make changes quickly to your plan of care. The platform also lets patients realize what may be contributing to their getting reinjured or having a slower recovery.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhat has been the impact of your platform to date?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EKhorramabadi:\u003C\/strong\u003E We\u0027ve already seen the immediate ROI in terms of patients just feeling much better and much more comfortable in their recovery and being able to push themselves a little bit further than they would have otherwise, because they know they have this product that\u0027s tracking them, and they know their physician also is tracking them.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EOn the physician side, there\u0027s a lot of incentive for them, because they see this as a tool to stay connected with their patients, which is incredibly valuable for them for delivering the best care or best experience for those patients. Also, this product is now covered by Medicare, CIGNA, and United Healthcare.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMcIltrot:\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/strong\u003EOne of the things we have heard from patients is they\u2019re using this to instill confidence in their walking ability and their recovery. Because these recovery timelines could be six months to a year to multiple years long, being able to have something that shows how much you\u0027ve been able to improve is invaluable.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EOur future vision is being able to put this on a patient and have a projected recovery laid out. One day, this device could provide recommendations on what went wrong and how to fix it. Being proactive with the care that we deliver to patients is the end goal.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAny advice for Georgia Tech students thinking about taking an innovative idea to market?\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EKhorramabadi:\u003C\/strong\u003E Go for it. Startups are always a risk, and Georgia Tech provides you with a safety net to take that risk. If you have an idea on how to solve a problem, why wait? Don\u0027t hesitate.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EIf you are looking for a supportive community to help you start your entrepreneurial journey,\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/strong\u003Eapplications for\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/create-x.gatech.edu\/female-founders\u0022\u003Ethe Female Founders Program\u003C\/a\u003E are open until \u003Cstrong\u003EMay 19\u003C\/strong\u003E for Summer 2025. \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/forms.gle\/Ar8JB95CWvKkEvqN9\u0022\u003EApply for Female Founders\u003C\/a\u003E today and over the summer learn entrepreneurship from an all-female coaching team, network with experts and successful entrepreneurs, build your network, and access funding to kick off a startup. Admissions are rolling.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u0026nbsp;For those interested in seeing the latest startups coming out of CREATE-X, join us for\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.eventbrite.com\/e\/create-x-demo-day-2025-tickets-1236462565819?aff=article\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EDemo Day 2025\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E!\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/strong\u003EOn\u0026nbsp;\u003Cstrong\u003EAug. 28 at 5 p.m.,\u003C\/strong\u003E over 100 startups will fill Exhibition Hall, debuting technologies from clean tech to fashion.\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.eventbrite.com\/e\/create-x-demo-day-2025-tickets-1236462565819?aff=article\u0022\u003ERegister today\u003C\/a\u003E for this free event that attracts over 1,500 attendees, from business leaders to enthusiasts, and see how our founders are tackling issues across industries.\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThree Georgia Tech alumni founded StrideLink, a med-tech startup that uses wearable sensors to monitor patients\u0027 gaits and improve orthopedic recovery. Leveraging support from CREATE-X programs, they have raised nearly $1 million in pre-seed funding and are now expanding their innovative platform to multiple orthopedic practices. Their technology aims to enhance patient care by providing real-time, remote monitoring and personalized treatment plans.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Female Founders alumni and Stridelink founders discuss their entrepreneurial pathway to delivering better patient care through a wearable sensor for orthopedic recovery."}],"uid":"36436","created_gmt":"2025-04-25 17:56:37","changed_gmt":"2025-06-16 14:56:27","author":"bdurham31","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","location":"Atlanta, GA","dateline":{"date":"2025-04-25T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2025-04-25T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"676946":{"id":"676946","type":"image","title":"Stridelink Founders","body":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EFrom left to right, Stridelink Founders Cassandra McIltrot , Marzeah \u201cZea\u201d Khorramabadi, and Neel Narvekar. Khorramabadi is holding one of their sensors, a device like a watch.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","created":"1745603367","gmt_created":"2025-04-25 17:49:27","changed":"1745603688","gmt_changed":"2025-04-25 17:54:48","alt":"From left to right, Stridelink Founders Cassandra McIltrot , Marzeah \u201cZea\u201d Khorramabadi, and Neel Narvekar. Khorramabadi is holding one of their sensors, a device like a watch.","file":{"fid":"260798","name":"stridelink-team_2025-1.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2025\/04\/25\/stridelink-team_2025-1.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2025\/04\/25\/stridelink-team_2025-1.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":4305901,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2025\/04\/25\/stridelink-team_2025-1.jpg?itok=lD-ZBHSV"}}},"media_ids":["676946"],"related_links":[{"url":"https:\/\/create-x.gatech.edu\/female-founders","title":"Apply to Female Founders"},{"url":"https:\/\/www.eventbrite.com\/e\/create-x-demo-day-2025-tickets-1236462565819?aff=article","title":"Register for Demo Day"}],"groups":[{"id":"583966","name":"CREATE-X"},{"id":"655285","name":"GT Commercialization"}],"categories":[{"id":"130","name":"Alumni"},{"id":"138","name":"Biotechnology, Health, Bioengineering, Genetics"},{"id":"139","name":"Business"},{"id":"153","name":"Computer Science\/Information Technology and Security"}],"keywords":[{"id":"137161","name":"CREATE-X"},{"id":"166994","name":"startups"},{"id":"2161","name":"founders"},{"id":"2493","name":"health care"},{"id":"57401","name":"MedTech"},{"id":"166971","name":"startup launch"},{"id":"9193","name":"accelerator"},{"id":"183842","name":"female founders"},{"id":"364","name":"Funding"},{"id":"192255","name":"go-commercializationnews"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"193658","name":"Commercialization"},{"id":"39501","name":"People and Technology"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EWritten By Anne\u0026nbsp;Wainscott-Sargent\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EInternal Contact:\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBreanna Durham\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EMarketing Strategist\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["breanna.durham@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}