Increasing the utilization of human body's second heart

Sedentary lifestyle, the main cause of blood stasis on the lower limbs predispose for cardiac disease, diabetes and senile dementia among many other diseases. Lack of motivation to exercise is aggravated by the lack of means to go to a gym or take the risks to exercise in the park. Exercise is perceived as pointless, difficult, or even an unnecessary luxury .  This situation is even worse for the 39 to 40 million older than 65 USA citizens.

An adaptable sitting pedal machine that produce electricity, which could be used at home or at the office, will kill two birds with one shot as will create the motivation to exercise and also will provide energy to use now or later. A standardized small energy grid will have similar impact to word processors in the nineties allowing to interchange power with batteries and appliances.

The morbidity and mortality associated with lack of returning circulation from the inferior limbs to the heart. Approximately 5.5 million people with alzheimer and 30 million people with Diabetes just in USA.  Please see this link for the physiological explanations of the problem: https://www.sonostics.com/how-hp-works .  We propose a more physiological solution as we are creating the motivation to do exercise by producing energy with the pedals. Part of this solution has already been developed by https://www.k-tor.com/  but next step requires partnering with more engineers ,and  other professionals as psychologists, health care workers, lawyers and insurance companies to adapt pedals for ankles and knees or for only ankles according to the needs of the user. As well as to implement a compatible small energy grid inside the nursing homes and assisted living facilities that will reduce their electric bills.  For insurance companies, this will have similar benefits as vaccination, saving money from hospitalizations and long recovery treatments. The motivation to exercise and its connection with the rewarding path in the brain has more ways to connect than we imagine. A pedal producing electrical energy will create a good stimulus to motivate the targeted population.

Although the system could be implemented all around the world, the first steps of the project are oriented to elderly USA population. The CDC estimates that 31 million adults age 50 or older are inactive, which is defined as 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity a week. https://www.cdc.gov/physicalactivity/inactivity-among-adults-50plus/index.html

The consequences of inactivity strikes health in many organs. Vital organs as the brain, the heart and the kidney need constant delivery of oxygen and glucose. The lack of exercise induces cardiovascular reactions that increase constantly the blood pressure to preserve perfusion which is detrimental for those organs.  As mentioned in this review article https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31100696, the economic burden of physical inactivity and sedentary behavior has been difficult to be measured but the situation calls for more preventive actions and an optimal allocation of resources.  The front line of intervention should be the 1.3 million residents of Nursing Home Care Facilities https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/nursing-home-care.htm and the 810 thousands of residents from  Residential Care Communities https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/residential-care-communities.htm.

Motivation to move our feet and to squeeze our calves may come from a pure intellectual motivation because we know the benefits of it, but most of the time this is not enough, especially in nursing homes and assisted living facilities settings. There are some devices in the market now but they missed the connection to a producing energy grid.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fg27GHUkBvc#action=share . It will be more effective the emotional motivation driven by the instant gratification of seeing our energy getting stored and be ready to share and be used by people near us. The coupling of an optimized exercise machine to a microgrid may seem as far as the smartphone was 20 years ago, but sooner or later this will be a good option to support our local economy, implement the use of clean energy and ensure a sustainable future.  The core of this solution is the K-tor box which can be customized to be adapted to a picogrid located in the room of the resident of the nursing home or assisted living facility. Other components of the picogrid will be a DC to AC inverter, a rechargeable battery of 12 volts, ideally a lithium battery, an electric meter to tell the user how much energy he has produced, a smart controller to switch between the main grid and the picogrid. The designed picogrid will be tested by Engineers from the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) Golisano Institute for Sustainability at its facility:(https://www.rit.edu/gis/research/facilities/testbeds/microgrid-testbed) . The investment for each unit is roughly 450 dollars, and although a KW is only around 12 cents, the benefits of health prevention and customer satisfaction will justify the expenses.  Although the power generated by the exercise will not be completely independent of the main grid, approximately 1 Kw will be generated every day by the pedaling machine, which can be located in the same room where the resident sleep. In some locations other alternative energies are already in place and are already integrated to the mian grid.Every watt generated by human exercise not only will contribute to build a more clean and sustainable environment but at the same time provide the activity that our calves (second heart) require to reduce morbidity and mortality.

My solution is bringing two problems together (sedentarism and lack of clean energies) and finding a solution through an action that has double and synergistic effects. The fact that the residents in nursing homes are collaborating with some watts of electric energy every day gives  the residents not only the cardiovascular physical benefit of pushing the blood back to their hearts and brains but also the mental satisfaction of creating some additional gain by collaborating and supporting a culture of clean and sustainable environment. Besides loneliness and boredom, helplessness is one of the main problems in elderly population. The action of generating energy by pedaling gives the resident of a nursing home or assisted living facility the sense that they can contribute with their efforts to better world, fighting that sense of helplessness that is a main cause of major depression.  The main innovation of my solution is to use the link between the two problems which nobody has yet seen as a possible source of synergistic effect. The motivation to exercise is a big obstacle for all the devices already in the market, but adding a picogrid to them will motivate the elder to exercise, in some way, creating a positive reinforcing cycle and at the same time breaking the negative spiral of lack of exercise-lack of motivation.

Mr Ken Torino, the creator of the Ktor power box has being contacted and he wants to participate in this solution.  He has mentioned that some of his units have been sold already for the purpose of rehabilitation and he will be able to adapt and customize his unit for this new purpose. This technology has already been patented and commercialized as it can be seen in its web site: https://www.k-tor.com/ktor-products/.  The prizes of the units could be reduced if produced in bigger number. The other components of the picogrid are also a core component of the solution. It will be important to see in the market the more reliable, advanced, suitable and economic converters, batteries, controllers and electric meters.  Great percentage of Nursing homes and assisted living facilities are privately owned. It will be important on the implementation of this solution to emphasize how this solution in someway is the future of our elder living facilities. If we do not do it now at some point it will be done as technology will allow us to be more precise in monitoring the gains of exercise from the cardiovascular as well as from the energetic  prospective.

Although it has been a small increase in exercise routines at nursing homes and assisted living facilities the goal of 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity per week is far behind. The motivation to exercise in these settings is really lacking and it is combined with the increased risk of falling, which administrators of these facilities in someway have as a big reason to not implement activities that will require too much mobility.  The pedaling machine keeps the safety of the resident, as it can be done from a sitting or recumbent position, Although pedaling machines are available they have not being marketed for the elderly and the few ones that have been tried are used for a few weeks and then due to the lack of motivation residents have placed them in the closet. Not saying that it will be the prototype, but it has been observed that residents are more motivated when a contraption either produce music or some kind of feedback for the resident to get motivated. Even if a generator will only will be able to charge a tablet or a smartphone, the elder residents will be motivated to do it more than if is only the simple pedaling machine. To emphasize too, regarding insurance companies, this solution can be compared to a vaccine:  the impact of pedaling for 30 minutes everyday on reducing costs due to hospitalization and expensive treatments will be worth the investment.

The power generator with a picogrid has not reach anybody yet. In one year we expect to have reached 10 to 20 Nursing homes or assisted living facilities, which is the equivalent of around 300 to 600 residents.  Which represent the same number of units. That will be around 150000 to 300000 dollars of investment. In five years this solution aims to target 70 percent of the 3 million elder people who will be living in Nursing  homes and assisted living facilities.

As it was stated in the former question the first year it is aim to reach 300 to 600 residents and to collect the necessary data to demonstrate the benefits and advantages of this solution.  

In five years 70 percent of the elderly population living in Nursing Homes and Assisted Living facilities in USA

For the next year, the first step to go through will be to test the picogrid, that it will optimally work before we implement to help the residents of nursing homes and assisted living facilities. Then it is necessary to review the legal implications of linking a picogrid to a main grid and the possible local regulations.

For the next five years more than an obstacle will be a challenge to make this solution to the level of public health policy.

The RIT Golisano Institute of Sustainability will help to select the best components for the picogrid as well as will test the picogrid before it is implemented in with the residents.  The main grid local provider will be contacted to follow the local rules regarding the connection of picogrid to a main grid.

My work at Nursing Homes and Assisted Living facilities has given me the experience to see the problem. My education and research has given me the knowledge to come with the solution.

https://www.k-tor.com/ktor-products/

http://energystorage.org/energy-storage/applications-energy-storage-technology