By Alesha Capone
Dr Hanatsu Nagano has achieved worldwide acclaim for designing shoe insoles which help to prevent falls in elderly people.
But Dr Nagano, a postdoctoral research fellow at Victoria University’s Footscray Park campus, says he does not aim to win awards or gain recognition.
Instead, Dr Nagano – who lives in Tarneit – said he looks to “commit myself into projects that I believe will help society”.
Dr Nagano created the insoles while completing his PhD, after two of his grandparents in Japan suffered falls.
“When I was in the last year of my Bachelor degree, I was looking for something worthwhile devoting my life into,” Dr Nagano said.
“I was given an offer for Honours research for falls prevention and coincidently, my grandparents fell.
“I took this as the fate and since then, I have been fully dedicated into this project.”
The ISEAL insoles – which are named after the Institute of Sport, Exercise and Active Living at Victoria University – have a series of raised bumps that follow a foot’s ideal centre of pressure to help with side-to-side balance; a shock-absorbing contoured heel; and a forefront that helps increase minimum toe clearance.
Research has shown the insoles lessen the risk of falls in senior citizens, which annually cause injuries to one-in-three elderly people across the globe.
“As soon as the first prototype insoles were developed, the first thing I did was to send them to my grandparents,” Dr Nagano said.
Dr Nagano said the entire process of inventing the insoles “has been long and hard” – from human trials involving more than 100 people to finding manufacturers capable of producing the product.
Dr Nagano also established his company, Global Bridge Melbourne Pty Ltd in Tarneit, and entered into agreements with VU, manufacturers and retailers.
For the creation of the insole, Dr Nagano has received awards, including the Most Innovative New Care Product in the World for three consecutive years at The Globals, which recognise development in seniors’ goods and services.
As well, Dr Nagano has been inducted into the Global Healthcare Hall of Fame and has been given a Professional Achievement Alumni Award by VU.
Dr Nagano said, that on a trip to Japan last year, he met Professor Yoshiyuki Sankai, chief executive of the robotics company CyberDyne.
Dr Nagano said they were working to develop a “Smart” insole, which will be designed to detect risks in walking and running such as falls, osteoarthritis and foot deformities.
Details: iseal-insole.net/
