Patent Pending · A Benny Labs Initiative

Recovery resistance,
dialed to the ounce.

Newhab is a lightweight wearable brace that adds gentle, precise resistance — from 0 to 5 lb — to therapy and recovery exercises. Turn a dial to the exact load a therapist prescribes, and it holds at any angle, so a healing arm or leg is never dropped and nothing snaps back.

See how it works ↓ For clinics & grant partners

A man in a rehabilitation clinic wearing the Newhab brace on his arm, with the resistance dial at the elbow.

Gentle, exact, and it holds where you stop. Concept render.

This is not a brace that limits movement.
It is an exercise device that rebuilds muscle.

An ordinary rehabilitation brace restricts a joint to protect it. Newhab does the opposite: it lets the joint move through its range and works the muscle with adjustable tension instead of heavy weights. Lightweight, worn on the limb, and dialled to the exact load — so strength comes back, safely, without a dumbbell anywhere near a healing joint.

0–5 lbprecise, dial-set resistance

Holdsat any angle — nothing is dropped

Arm & legwearable braces for major joints

501(c)(3)co-developed with Benny Labs Foundation

Newhab overview — Exact Load, Safe Hold: a 0 to 5 lb adjustable load dial, resistance in one direction with an eased return, and a hold that keeps position wherever the patient stops. — Exact load, safe hold — the whole idea on one page. Concept render; tap to view full size.

The Problem

Early rehab needs resistance measured in ounces — and safety above all.

In the first weeks after surgery, stroke, or injury, the right load can be under a pound. The tools therapists reach for weren't built for that: small weights can be dropped onto a healing joint, elastic bands pull back and can't hold a position, and neither lets you set — or record — an exact, repeatable number.

A person looking uncertainly at a light dumbbell beside resistance bands.

Imprecise

Ounces matter, but tools guess

Bands and light weights can't be set to a specific sub-pound load, so the "dose" of exercise is approximate and hard to progress safely.

A person on the floor holding a painful arm after a dropped weight and a snapped band.

Unsafe

A dropped weight sets recovery back

Free weights and stretched bands store energy. For a weak or painful limb, a slip or a snap-back can mean re-injury.

A person facing a progress chart with question marks in place of weekly results.

Unmeasured

Progress that can't be tracked

Without a real number and a fixed hold, it's hard to document range, load, and improvement for the patient, the therapist, or the payer.

How It Works

Set the exact load. It holds where the patient stops.

The same core mechanism behind the invention — a friction brake, a one-way clutch, and a self-locking dial — is tuned here for the gentle, safety-critical world of early rehab.

A hand turning the graduated load dial on the brace, marked 0 to 5 lb.

Dial the prescribed load

A graduated dial sets gentle resistance across the 0–5 lb range in exact, repeatable numbers — a real dose a therapist can prescribe and progress.

A seated patient wearing the brace, with the working direction resisted and the return easy.

Resist one way, ease the other

A one-way clutch can resist the working motion while leaving the return easy or free — supporting the limb through the range instead of fighting it both ways.

A seated patient pausing mid-movement while the brace holds the position.

Holds anywhere — the safety piece

Because friction stores no energy and the dial is self-locking, the brace simply holds wherever the patient pauses. No drop, no recoil — the property that matters most for a fragile joint.

The Braces

Two wearable braces, for the joints rehab touches most.

For now, Newhab focuses on doing two things exceptionally well — a gentle, precise arm brace and leg brace. (Machines and higher loads are a separate effort.)

The Newhab arm brace worn at the elbow, with the resistance dial at the joint and cuffs above and below.

01Arm brace

Worn at the elbow (with wrist and shoulder variants planned) for post-op, stroke, and injury recovery of the upper limb — gentle graded resistance for flexion and extension.

The Newhab leg brace worn at the knee, with the resistance dial at the joint and straps on the thigh and shin.

02Leg brace

Worn at the knee (with ankle and hip variants planned) for gait, strength, and range-of-motion recovery in the lower limb — the same dial-set, hold-anywhere control.

Close view of the graduated dial on the elbow brace alongside a readout display.

03Graded dial & readout

A clear graduated dial sets the exact sub-pound load; a readout (and, later, a companion app) helps document range, load, and progress over a course of therapy.

Close view of the padded cuffs and adjustable straps holding the brace against the arm.

04Comfort & fit

A soft sleeve and adjustable straps keep the compact mechanism secure and comfortable for home programs between clinic visits.

Concept renders. Newhab is in development and not yet available for sale.

Who It's For

Built for the people and places recovery happens.

Precise, safe, low-load resistance that works in the clinic and at home.

A physical therapist guiding an older woman through an elbow exercise while she wears the Newhab brace. — Clinic-set resistance, carried into the home program. Concept illustration.

A person resting in a hospital bed with an arm in a sling.

Post-surgical rehabGentle graded loading in the early weeks

A seated older man doing a resistance-band exercise in a clinic.

Stroke recoverySupported, repeatable upper- and lower-limb work

An athlete training on a balance trainer in a gym.

Sports & injury rehabPrecise progression back to strength

An older woman doing a light dumbbell exercise at home.

Older adultsSafe strength and fall-prevention work

A therapist guiding a patient through a resistance-band exercise.

PT & OT clinicsA measurable, documentable exercise dose

A person following a guided exercise at home from a tablet.

Home programsClinic-grade control between visits

Veterans & VA careRecovery and reconditioning support

A child doing a resistance-band exercise in a paediatric clinic.

Pediatric & neuro rehabVery light, carefully controlled loads

Benny Labs

A nonprofit effort to put precise, safe rehab within everyone's reach.

Newhab is co-developed with the Benny Labs Foundation, an approved 501(c)(3) not-for-profit dedicated to affordable rehabilitation technology. Our aim is to fund development and keep the device accessible through government and foundation grants, research partnerships, and collaborations with clinics — so cost is never the reason someone recovers less than they could.

An engineer at a Benny Labs bench assembling the brace mechanism beside a drawing.

Grant-funded development

We are pursuing government and nonprofit grants to fund prototyping, testing, and clinical evaluation — keeping the technology mission-first.

A clinician fitting the brace to a seated participant in a research setting.

Clinical & research partners

We're seeking therapists, clinics, and researchers to co-design and pilot the braces with real patients and real outcomes.

A phone showing home, clinic and patient access options beside a shipping box.

Access-first

The goal is a device clinics and patients can actually afford — distributed through partners, grants, and programs rather than priced out of reach.

The Founder

Benny Goldstein

Founder & Inventor, Benny Labs

Benny invented the direction-dependent resistance mechanism behind Newhab and founded Benny Labs to get it into the hands of the people who need it most.

A lawyer by training — LLB and LLM, specialising in patent and contract law — he drafts and files his own patent applications, including the one protecting this device.

The Benny Labs Foundation is an approved 501(c)(3) not-for-profit, and that is deliberate. The earliest weeks of recovery are where precise, safe loading matters most, and they are also where the available tools are weakest. Building this as a mission rather than a margin is what keeps it reachable for the clinics and patients who stand to gain the most from it.

Partner or fund this work Get updates

The Invention

Protected by a filed U.S. patent application.

Direction-Dependent Resistance Mechanism for Exercise and Rehabilitation — U.S. Application Patent Pending.

The graduated brake dial beside a lock indicator reading HOLD, locked under load.

Sets and holds the load

A self-locking, non-backdrivable dial sets the brake load and holds it under any force — the property that keeps a fragile limb safe.

An arm wearing the brace, showing the working motion resisted and the return eased.

Direction-dependent by design

A one-way clutch can resist the working motion while easing the return, supporting the limb through its range.

Compact & wearable

The mechanism is small enough to sit comfortably in a joint brace with a graduated, therapist-set dial.

Patent pending. Newhab is an investigational rehabilitation device in development; it is not FDA-cleared and no medical claims of treatment efficacy are made. Nothing here is a guarantee of grant, scope, or performance.

Get In Touch

Clinics, researchers & grant partners.

If you'd like to pilot Newhab, collaborate on research, or explore grant and nonprofit funding with the Benny Labs Foundation, we'd love to hear from you.

Email Benny Labs Get updates

In development

Follow the work — or partner with us.

Newhab is patent pending and in active development, co-developed with the Benny Labs Foundation. Whether you're a therapist, a clinic, a caregiver, a researcher, or a potential grant or nonprofit partner, leave your details and we'll keep you posted — and reach out about pilots and collaborations.

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The Business Plan

A home rehabilitation device, and what it takes to build it.

Newhab is designed to leave the clinic. A therapist sets the prescription; the patient takes the brace home, dials the load themselves, and works the joint between visits — with a device that cannot drop and cannot snap back. Below is what exists today, what it costs to finish, and what we are honest about not yet knowing.

A physical therapist guiding a patient through an arm exercise while she wears the Newhab brace in a clinic.

What we are raising, and what it buys

Three tranches, each tied to a specific deliverable. We are pursuing a blend of non-dilutive grant funding and private investment.

$50k

Final working prototype

Bench rig and torque-versus-angle characterisation across the full 0–5 lb range
Three design iterations of the clutch and brake assembly
CAD, design-for-manufacture and materials selection
A small batch of functional units for usability testing

$250k

First production run

Injection-mould tooling and first-article inspection
A first run of a few thousand units
Assembly, quality control and packaging
Fulfilment setup and initial inventory

$25k

International patent filings

PCT international application
National-phase entry in priority markets
Translations and national filing fees
Design-patent protection on the housing

Total raise sought — grants and investment combined $325,000

Newhab overview: adjustable strength from 0 to 5 lb; resists one way as you work the joint, the return is unresisted, and it holds anywhere you stop. — Resists one way, free on the return, holds where you stop. Concept render; tap to view full size.

The market

Every figure below is sourced and dated. Where published estimates disagree, we say so and use the smaller one.

1,083,061primary knee replacements performed in the US in a single year, up 5.0% year over year Orthopedic Network News / AHRQ HCUP · 2022 · source

61.2 millionUS adults aged 65 or older — 18% of the population, growing 3.1% in one year US Census Bureau · 2024 · source

53.2 millionUS adults with doctor-diagnosed arthritis; 88% of them are 45 or older CDC MMWR 72(41) · 2023 · source

$147.8 BUS home health care spending, growing 10.8% against 7.5% for health spending overall CMS National Health Expenditure Accounts · 2023 · source

$4.08 B → $5.92 Bglobal orthopaedic braces and supports market, 2024 to 2030 — a 6.5% CAGR, with knee braces the fastest-growing segment MarketsandMarkets · Jul 2025 · source

312,199licensed physical therapists in the US, plus 132,105 assistants FSBPT Census · Dec 2024 · source

The number that actually matters: $105.76.

That is net revenue per patient visit at the largest US outpatient physical therapy operator — 6.15 million visits across 780 clinics (FY2025). A clinic netting roughly a hundred dollars a visit cannot absorb a device out of visit margin, and cannot supervise the patient on the days they are not in the building. That gap — between visits, unsupervised, at loads a therapist would actually prescribe — is the entire product thesis.

How we size this, and what we do not know. We size Newhab as a brace rather than as exercise equipment, because it is worn on the limb. Treat the category figure as a vendor estimate, not measured revenue: MarketsandMarkets puts the 2024 global brace market at $4.08 B while Grand View Research puts it at $4.67 B — a 14% spread on the same market and year. No published source sizes the rehabilitative brace sub-segment, so our serviceable estimate of $250–600 M is our own arithmetic and is labelled as such. Bottom-up, at a $250 cash price and one device per patient episode, 1% of annual US primary knee replacements is roughly 10,800 units and $2.7 M a year. Market size is not this project's binding constraint — a $325,000 raise is covered by about 0.12% of knee-replacement volume alone. Clinical evidence and channel access are the constraints. We have also found no defensible US procedure volume for elbow-specific rehabilitation indications; the knee version leads, and sizing the elbow is on the research list.

Competitive landscape

There is no shortage of joint bracing. What is absent is a passive device that resists motion in one direction, leaves the return free, and holds position anywhere — at a price a patient can take home. These are the products a reviewer would reasonably name as competition.

Product	What it does	Typical price	Where Newhab differs
Spring Loaded Technology	Spring-loaded knee bracing that stores and returns energy	~$2,000+	Springs assist the wearer. Newhab resists and holds — friction stores no energy to give back.
JAS · Ultraflex DynaSplint	Static-progressive and dynamic splints for contracture and stiffness	$1,000–5,000 often reimbursed	Built to stretch a stiff joint, clinic-prescribed and costly. Newhab loads the muscle for strength, at a take-home price.
THERABAND elastic bands	Colour-coded elastic resistance — what the therapist actually sends home today	A few dollars	The real incumbent. Eight colours span 2.4–14.2 lb, so the entire 0–5 lb clinical range is four discrete jumps — and nothing at all exists below 2.4 lb. Elastic also stores energy and recoils, climbs as you stretch it, and pulls both ways.
Biodex System 4	Isokinetic dynamometer — clinic-grade resisted muscle testing and training, with direction- and speed-dependent loading	$10,000–50,000+	The clinic-grade benchmark, and proof that resisted, direction-dependent loading is established practice rather than a novel claim. It is a 900 lb machine bolted to a floor. Newhab does one narrow slice of that job as a passive wearable the patient takes home.
AGOGIE · Physiclo Tau Orthopedics	Compression apparel with sewn-in elastic resistance	$49–129	Elastic resists both directions, cannot be set to a number, and snaps back. No hold.
Newhab	Passive direction-dependent friction brake with a graduated 0–5 lb dial	Target: home price point	—

SWOT

Written to be useful rather than flattering. The weaknesses and threats are the real ones, and they are the reason for the raise.

Strengths

Direction-dependent by design. Resists the working motion while leaving the return free — passively, with no motors or electronics.
Holds anywhere. Friction stores no energy, so the brace cannot drop like a weight or recoil like a band. This is the safety property that matters for a fragile joint.
Continuous sub-pound adjustment where the incumbent — elastic bands — offers just four discrete steps across the entire 0–5 lb clinical range.
Entirely passive — nothing to charge, no battery, no electronics to certify or fail.
Patent pending, with a US application on file since June 2026.
Likely Class I, 510(k)-exempt pathway under 21 CFR 890.3475 (limb orthosis).
Nonprofit status is a real advantage for a specific funding tier — FuzeHub and the Neilsen Foundation are closed to for-profits entirely.

Weaknesses

No clinical data of any kind. Nothing has been tested on a patient. Every performance statement is currently a design intent.
No production-representative prototype yet, and no bench torque data collected.
Single inventor. No engineering, regulatory, quality or commercial team in place.
No reimbursement pathway — there is no HCPCS code for this device, so it would launch cash-pay.
No manufacturing partner, tooling or supply chain established.
A 501(c)(3) can neither hold an SBIR award nor issue equity. Both halves of a conventional funding plan are therefore unavailable to Benny Labs as constituted — see the note below.

Opportunities

Care is moving out of the clinic and into the home, and payers are pushing it there.
An ageing population and rising joint-replacement volumes expand the rehabilitation population every year.
A genuine price gap: reimbursed static-progressive splints run into the thousands; nothing serves this function at a consumer price.
Graded, direction-dependent resistance is unoccupied territory in take-home devices.
A deep grant landscape exists specifically for rehabilitation engineering.
The same mechanism scales to other joints and to gym equipment — a second market from one invention.

Threats

Incumbent distribution. Össur, Breg and DonJoy own the clinical channel and could build a mechanical equivalent if the category proves out.
Hardware startups fail on manufacturing, not ideas. The closest comparable — Spring Loaded, also a passive mechanical knee brace — consumed several million dollars of venture, government and crowdfunding capital to reach market, roughly an order of magnitude beyond this raise.
The largest commercial payer has already ruled against this device class. UnitedHealthcare policy 2026T0481BB, effective 1 January 2026, deems patient-controlled mechanical stretching devices “unproven and not medically necessary… due to insufficient evidence of efficacy.” Patient-adjusted-at-home is our core positioning and it sits inside that category. Policy
The 510(k) exemption is conditional. 21 CFR 890.9 withdraws it where a device uses a different fundamental technology than the predicate. The listed predicates are a knee cage, an elastic stocking and a corrective shoe — all passive supports with no mechanism. A clutch-and-brake assembly invites the argument.
Patent scope may end up narrower than hoped; adjacent granted claims exist in elbow bracing.
Regulatory and advertising exposure if marketing outruns the evidence.
Product liability — a device that loads a healing joint carries real risk that must be designed and labelled for.
Without reimbursement, the addressable market is limited to what patients will pay directly.

Milestones

Each phase is gated on the one before it. Durations are planning estimates.

PHASE 01

Characterise and finalise

~6 months · $50k

Bench rig, torque-versus-angle data at every dial setting, three iterations to a design freeze, and a small batch of functional units.

PHASE 02

Usability and design lock

~4 months

Therapists and patients set prescribed loads unsupervised. Fit, comfort and all-day wear. Labelling and instructions for use drafted.

PHASE 03

Tooling and first run

~6 months · $250k

Injection-mould tooling, first-article inspection, quality system, and a first production run of a few thousand units.

PHASE 04

Clinical pilot and launch

~8 months

A controlled pilot with a partner clinic, published results, and first distribution through clinics and grant-funded programmes.

Planned research programme

None of the following has been conducted yet

These are the studies the raise pays for, in the order they must happen. We are stating them here so that partners and reviewers can hold us to the design rather than to a claim.

Stage 1 · Bench

Torque–angle characterisation

Design: Instrumented hinge rig, load cell and goniometer, 0–150° sweep at every dial setting
Sample: Mechanical — 10 units, 5 runs each
Primary outcome: Resisting torque as a function of joint angle, and repeatability between units
Purpose: Turns the dial markings into a defensible specification instead of a claim

Stage 2 · Bench

Durability and setting drift

Design: Accelerated cycling to 100,000 flexion–extension cycles, with periodic re-measurement
Sample: 6 units
Primary outcome: Change in delivered torque at a fixed dial setting over life
Purpose: A dial that drifts is a dial that lies. This establishes service life.

Stage 3 · Human factors

Usability and safe self-adjustment

Design: Task-based usability study; participants set a prescribed load unsupervised at home
Sample: ~20 patients and ~10 therapists
Primary outcome: Accuracy of the set load against prescription, and use errors observed
Purpose: The whole product rests on a patient adjusting it correctly without a clinician present

Stage 4 · Clinical

Controlled pilot

Design: Randomised pilot against a standard home exercise programme, partner clinic
Sample: ~40 participants in post-operative elbow or knee rehabilitation
Primary outcome: Change in range of motion and strength at 8 weeks
Secondary: Adherence to the prescribed programme, and adverse events

On the numbers above. These are planning estimates, not quotations. Two lines need naming honestly. The $250,000 tooling figure is unquoted — obtaining two contract-manufacturer quotes is a Phase 3 gate, because a multi-part mechanical assembly can absorb a large share of a production budget in tooling before a single unit ships. And the plan does not yet carry FDA overheads: a 513(g) classification request runs roughly $4,300 at the small-business rate, and annual establishment registration is $13,785, with no small-business discount and no first-year waiver. Timelines depend on funding.

Funding strategy

How this is funded — two entities, two pools A 501(c)(3) cannot receive an SBIR or STTR award — SBIR.gov is unambiguous that the awardee must be organised for profit — and it cannot issue equity. That would be a hard stop for most nonprofits. It is not one here.

Newhab runs on a two-entity structure that already exists. Benny Labs Foundation holds the research and access mission and applies for charitable and foundation funding. Mathknight LLC, the founder's for-profit vehicle, holds the commercial track, can take equity investment, and is eligible for SBIR and STTR. The two draw from different pools and do not compete for the same dollar.

That matters because of what sits behind the for-profit door: a single SBIR Phase I ($323,090 statutory guideline, or up to $305,000 at NSF) would fund this entire raise outright.

Programme	Ceiling	Fit — and the catch
NIH Parent R21 PA-25-306	$275,000 over 2 years	501(c)(3) organisations are explicitly eligible — the largest grant Benny Labs could hold in its own name. Catch: R21 is a research mechanism. Reviewers want a hypothesis and a study, not a prototype build.
FuzeHub Manufacturing Grants (NY)	$65,000	The best structural fit found. The lead applicant must be a New York not-for-profit partnered with a NY manufacturer under 500 employees — precisely our shape, and it covers most of the prototype tranche. The 2026 round has closed; target spring 2027.
Craig H. Neilsen Foundation	Programme-dependent	Grants go only to nonprofits, so our status is an advantage. Catch: strictly spinal-cord-injury scoped and reviewed by SCI clinicians — it needs a genuine SCI application, not a relabel.
NIH SBIR via NICHD/NCMRR	$323,090 Phase I $2.15M Phase II	Strongest topical fit — NCMRR's remit expressly covers orthotics and assistive devices. Requires the for-profit entity. Receipt dates 5 Sep, 5 Jan, 5 Apr.
NSF SBIR Phase I	up to $305,000	Requires an invited Project Pitch before a full proposal — a gating step first-timers miss. Also requires the for-profit entity.

On timing, and on pre-orders. No federal grant reaches this project inside the current calendar year. The realistic sequence is foundation and state grants for the prototype, the entity restructure and an SBIR application running in parallel, and the production run financed from SBIR Phase II, angel capital or pre-orders once bench data exists. On crowdfunding: it is a legitimate demand-validation tool and a poor production-financing tool — Kickstarter's Technology category carries the platform's lowest success rate at roughly 25%. We would use a modest campaign to validate demand and build a prescriber list, not to fund a production run.

This page is provided for information only. It is not an offer to sell, or a solicitation of an offer to buy, any security, and it is not a guarantee of grant, scope, timeline or performance. Newhab is an investigational rehabilitation device in development; it is not FDA-cleared, no medical claims of treatment efficacy are made, and no clinical evaluation has yet been performed.

Talk to us about funding Get updates

Recovery resistance,dialed to the ounce.