MEI Micro partners with Steadman Philippon Research Institute in new technology development

SANTA BARBARA, Calif., June 26, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- MEI Micro, Inc. is partnering with Steadman Philippon Research Institute (SPRI) to develop new technology and product platforms that will help establish new standards in accuracy and precision for a number of applications related to MedTech, healthcare, sports medicine and athletic performance.

The partnership will bring together MEI's expertise in next-generation MEMs inertial sensor technology and the deep subject matter expertise of SPRI, one of the world's leading Institutes of orthopaedics and sports medicine research. The focus will include the development of smart surgical tools, medical-grade wearables and motion capture systems for the assessment and continuous monitoring of patients, athletes and military personnel. These systems will feature MEI's proprietary 3DS MEMs platform technology which is 80x–100x more accurate than existing consumer- and industrial-grade MEMs inertial sensors currently in use in life science applications including consumer wearables like smart watches and rings.

"There is tremendous potential in this innovative partnership between MEI Micro and SPRI," shared Marc J. Philippon, MD, Managing Partner of The Steadman Clinic and Chairman of SPRI. "Harnessing MEI's technology will enable us to develop new products for surgical advancement while enhancing the patient's recovery experience through next-generation technology."

MEI Micro recently began shipping first commercial product samples of its industry first navigation-grade, multi-axis chip scale 3 degrees of freedom (DoF) MEMs accelerometer platform, which received the Most Innovative Product Award for MEMs at the 2024 Sensors Converge conference. At this year's event, CEO Louis Ross will present "Next Generation MEMS Inertial for Life Science Applications" and will review its plans to work closely with SPRI, which has a long history of developing leading-edge approaches to orthopaedic surgery and conducting research to support the care of some of the world's top professional athletes and the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic teams.

"We look to democratize the use of high-accuracy inertial data", said Ross, which includes delivering the highest accuracy, lowest cost, size, weight and power (CSWaP) sensors to be put on the market. "The need for much higher accuracy has been accelerated due to the broad-spread application of artificial intelligence and machine learning, especially at the EDGE, which includes the Internet of Medical Things (IoMT)." EDGE computing, also referred to as "TinyML", requires higher accuracy data in order to develop more efficient sensor fusion software and advanced algorithms that can become a catalyst for preventative, predictive and personalized healthcare and related assessments and medical treatments. MEMs inertial sensors also provide the ability to continuously track and monitor users, providing a key enabler for telemedicine/telehealth which will lead to lower costs for clinical trials and healthcare in general.

"SPRI's partnership with MEI Micro will result in the development of a portfolio of healthcare technological advancements," said Dan Drawbaugh, CEO of SPRI. "As SPRI expands its artificial intelligence and machine learning capabilities, there is a natural synergy with MEI Micro's technologies for precision-based solutions. We look forward to working with MEI Micro to change the shape of personalized healthcare on a global scale."

The organizations plan to develop new technology products, including targeted orthopaedic and sports medicine applications for individual joints, with the ultimate goal of advancing patient treatment, care and recovery.

MEI Micro, Inc. is a technology start up commercializing the world's first tactical to navigation grade capable, multi-axis, chip scale MEMs inertial sensor systems.  The company's 3DS proprietary MEMs platform technology includes MEMs manufacturing process, advanced semiconductor packaging, MEMs device design and applications related intellectual property.  The company works closely with partners to develop custom, application specific solutions enabled by its 3DS MEMs inertial measurement units (IMUs) and inertial navigation systems (INSs). 

Steadman Philippon Research Institute (SPRI) is dedicated to keeping people of all ages physically active through orthopaedic research and education. With an enduring focus on applied clinical translation, SPRI is dedicated to discovering new therapies, treatments and cures that can be brought to patients in a clinical setting. SPRI utilizes the latest regenerative medicine techniques—basic science studies at the cellular level—to investigate the causes and effects of degenerative arthritis, techniques of musculoskeletal regeneration and healing processes. SPRI also uses state-of-the-art Biomotion and Robotics technologies, magnetic resonance imaging and over 35 years of patient outcomes data in its bench-to-bedside approach to research. The 501(c)(3) charitable organization is one of the most published organizations in sports medicine research and education.