The FastTrack device, developed by Horsepower Technologies, is designed to help horses recover from lameness faster and more effectively.
Mouli Ramani, president and CEO of Horsepower Technologies, likens the device to a knee brace worn by an NFL player. The FastTrack would be strapped onto a horse’s lower leg and adjusted to allow a customized range of motion.
“When you put (the device) onto a lame horse, it promotes and accelerates the recovery process,” Ramani told the Lowell Sun.
The device is designed to treat soft ligament damage that causes lameness — not bone-related injuries — by shifting horses’ weight off of the healing tendons and onto stronger bones.
With FastTrack, horses “can get back to the exercise faster, they can start becoming active and the horse owners can enjoy them for the reason they purchased them in the first place,” says Ramani.
The product is in development at the University of Massachusetts Lowell Innovation Hub. Horsepower Technologies received a $100,000 incubator loan from the Lowell Development and Financial Corp. in June.
Ramani expressed that a device like FastTrack has been a long time coming.
“There’s an enormous, enormous love of these animals, and the technology hasn’t been brought to bear in the equine sphere in the same way it has in some other industries.”
Studies of the brace are under peer-review and sales may begin as soon as November.