Designing Better Steps

For people living with multiple sclerosis (MS), something as routine as taking a step can become physically demanding. Muscle weakness, fatigue, and changes in balance can make walking increasingly difficult, while many mobility devices are designed to address broad impairments rather than the specific symptoms individuals experience.

Seeking a more targeted solution, University of Houston Gerald D. Hines College of Architecture and Design recent industrial design master’s graduate Mehdi Mortazavi developed ProxiStep, a soft lower-body exosuit that assists individuals with asymmetrical muscle weakness by improving gait balance and reducing the effort required to walk. Created as his graduate thesis, the project earned first place in the Consortium of Multiple Sclerosis Centers (CMSC) Design for Rehabilitation Competition, which brings together healthcare providers, engineering schools, and patients to develop rehabilitation technologies that improve quality of life for people living with MS.

For Mortazavi, the award recognizes not only the final design, but also the role industrial design can play in healthcare.

Designing Around People

The project began with a conversation.

While searching for a thesis topic, Mortazavi came across Dee, a woman living with multiple sclerosis who openly shared her experiences using mobility assistive technologies on LinkedIn. Curious to learn more, he reached out.

"I've always been interested in wearable, assistive, and medical products," Mortazavi said.

Those conversations led him into months of research. Through medical literature, patient interviews, online surveys, conversations with clinicians, and community outreach, he developed a deeper understanding of MS and the mobility challenges many people experience. As the project progressed, patients and medical professionals remained involved, providing feedback that shaped each iteration of the design.

"Keeping patients and medical professionals involved helped me make better decisions and avoid designing based only on assumptions," Mortazavi said. "Their feedback shaped the direction of the project and helped turn ProxiStep from a concept into a usable assistive device."

A Simpler Approach

Unlike powered exoskeletons that rely on motors and electronics, ProxiStep uses a passive mechanical system that works with the body's natural movement. The wearable consists of three layers: a soft inner liner, an internal elastic mechanism that stores and transfers energy during walking, and an outer shell designed to blend into everyday clothing.

As the user walks, the elastic system stores energy from the stronger leg before releasing it to help propel the affected leg forward, improving gait balance while reducing the effort required to take each step.

"The most challenging aspect of the project was finding the right direction, placement, and level of assistance for the diagonal elastic band," Mortazavi said.

To solve the problem, he developed more than ten prototypes before arriving at the final design.

From Prototype to Award Winner

ProxiStep evolved through repeated testing with patients and healthy participants. Early prototypes were evaluated by Dee and another participant whose symptoms closely matched the mobility challenge the device was designed to address. Their feedback led to improvements in comfort, adjustability, and stability before additional walking studies and electromyography (EMG) testing helped refine the design.

"The most satisfying part was receiving positive and encouraging feedback from patients and medical professionals," Mortazavi said. "That feedback, combined with the total lack of a product in the market that functions this way, showed me that there was a real need for this type of solution."

Research Supported by AI

Artificial intelligence also became an important research tool throughout the project.

Mortazavi used ChatGPT, Gemini, and NotebookLM to better understand medical terminology, organize interview transcripts, summarize research literature, and create visuals for presentations.

"I mainly used ChatGPT to define medical terms, help identify relevant research papers, summarize literature, verify and validate gathered information and, most importantly, help me understand complex medical concepts," he said.

He also found AI valuable for organizing the large amount of information generated throughout the project.

"ChatGPT was particularly helpful in turning large amounts of scattered information into a more understandable and structured format," Mortazavi said.

Looking Ahead

Winning the CMSC Design for Rehabilitation Competition reinforced Mortazavi's belief that industrial designers bring a unique perspective to healthcare by focusing on usability, affordability, and the experiences of the people using a product.

"As industrial designers, we are trained to approach problems differently. We look closely at the user, the context, the function, the usability, the affordability, and the overall experience of a product,” Mortazavi said. “Those skills are especially important in healthcare, where the most effective solution is not always the most technically complex one. Sometimes, what users need most is something simple, affordable, usable, comfortable, and approachable."

For Mortazavi, ProxiStep demonstrates how human-centered industrial design can translate research into practical solutions that improve everyday life for people living with multiple sclerosis.