Brace Yourself; Cutting Edge Medical Device Startup Launches Breakthrough Mobility Technology
Icarus Medical Innovations Reveals The Ascender, A Revolutionary Knee Brace that Aims to Change the Future of Aging Athletics and those who Suffer from Osteoarthritis
Icarus Medical to Create Made to Measure, 3D Printed, Competitively Priced Braces that Take Patients from Surviving to Thriving
Charlottesville, Virginia – After sustaining a sports injury that left him with severe cartilage damage in his knee, Founder and CEO of Icarus, struggled to find a way to maintain his active lifestyle. No brace could meet the demands of his athleticism so he developed Icarus’s first product, the Ascender. This brace acts as an external muscle tendon system, removing up to forty pounds of force off the knee during flexion.
This product will unload the large amounts of daily high forces we put on our knees each day. This advancement is the next step at the intersection of health and technology- its purpose is to help people get back to the activities they are missing while enhancing their overall performance. The Ascender generates a high unloading force that is also rapidly adjustable. It can go from 0 tension (pure stabilization) and increment up to high-tension and unload significant weight from the joint.
“My goal was to design a brace that solves issues of fit, wearability, and material quality, and provides smooth, unyielding assistance across the knee’s three compartmentsOur scan-to-fit process allows us to create a fully customized brace that conforms to your leg’s exact contours. Advanced 3D printing technology provides for a rapid turn-around time from scan to construction to delivery. Finally, we are covered by most insurance policies, making the Icarus brace widely available at a low cost to customers,” said Dave Johnson, Founder and CEO of Icarus.
There are millions of people like Dave who are facing joint replacement surgery. Of the 30 million Americans with knee OA, 14 million suffer from moderate to severe OA, and would immediately benefit from the Icarus brace. The prevalence of OA in active duty, reserve, and veteran military service members is double the normal U.S. population, representing a subset of 4 million. At scale, we anticipate a serviceable obtainable market of $250 million, or 10% of the 2026 projected $2.5 billion knee brace market with a CAGR of 5.9%. Currently available braces are unable to unload weight from the entire knee joint to adequately relieve OA-related pain.
After five years of intensive research and development, Icarus is ready to launch its flagship product, the Ascender. The Ascender is a novel class of multi-compartment unloader containing a patented External Muscle Tendon System to offload up to 40 lbs from the knee. Paired with an adjustable tension system, and custom scan-to-fit technology, the Ascender ensures comfort and wearability for each user across a range of activities. In initial product testing trials, all 12 patients with symptoms of OA indicated a significant reduction in pain.
Our groundbreaking technology features:
● Rapid scan-to-3D print manufacturing for optimized fit and fast delivery
● Lightweight and durable design
● Real-time tension adjustment using a Boa dial
● A novel multi-compartment unloader mechanism to address root causes of OA related pain
For more information, visit https://www.icarusmedical.com/.