Evaluating Improved Knee-Save device in Deep Squatting Tasks
Contract Overview
Solicitation details, issuing organization, response deadlines, documents, and interested companies for this government contract opportunity.
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Osteoarthritis, particularly of the knee, affects millions of adults in the United States, with prevalence rising among older workers and those engaged in occupations requiring prolonged high knee flexion, such as roofing, construction, and retail stocking. Occupations involving at least 30 minutes daily of deep squatting or kneeling have been linked to a 122% to 240% increase in knee OA incidence compared to average workers, a trend expected to worsen as the workforce ages. Knee savers, currently used in some industries to enhance comfort during these tasks, lack biomechanical validation and are offered in one-size-fits-all designs that do not account for individual differences in body size or range of motion, limiting their effectiveness. To address this gap, the CDC’s Office of Acquisition Services, through the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, is seeking contractor support under solicitation 75D301-26-Q-79163 to generate experimental human biomechanical data on deep squatting tasks performed with and without improved knee-saver devices. The goal is to develop and validate a biomechanical model that can guide the design of more effective, personalized knee-saver systems to reduce knee joint loading and mitigate OA risk among workers. The contractor will conduct a series of controlled tests on multiple knee-saver prototypes, collecting data on musculoskeletal loads in the knee and spine during squatting motions. This data will be critical for informing future design improvements and is required under a contract with a response deadline of August 10, 2026, managed by the Department of Health and Human Services in Atlanta, Georgia.
General Info
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Place of Performance
GA, USASet-Aside
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Response Deadline
Organization & Contact Information
Full Description
Osteoarthritis (OA) is a chronic disease that affects 32.5 million people in the US. The prevalence of knee OA among adults over 60 years is approximately 10% (men) and 13% (women). Epidemiological studies showed that the prevalence of knee OA among workers is associated with their occupational activities. In many occupational activities, such as floor installation, electrical repairs and installations, roofing, retail stocking, gardening, and construction repairs, workers need to perform high knee-flexion tasks. Occupations involving high knee flexion tasks for at least 30 minutes per day resulted in increases in knee OA occurrence from 122% to 240 %, compared to average workers. The prevalence of OA will continue to increase with the aging workforce and the increasing life expectancy.
Knee savers or knee supporters are devices that are attached to the users’ legs to make users feel more comfortable during high knee flexion tasks. Knee savers have been used to reduce knee joint loading in some sports and occupational activities, such as roofing; however, the mechanism of how or if knee savers can reduce joint loading during deep squatting has not been analyzed on a biomechanical basis and their designs may be improved. Currently, commercially available knee savers of one size/type are intended to be used for individuals with different ranges of motion (ROM) in the lower extremities and different body sizes.
NIOSH researchers are working on a NORA-funded project (Biomechanical Evaluation of Knee Savers for Reducing Joint Load during Squatting) to improve the knee saver design to reduce the knee joint loading, thereby reducing workers’ knee OA risk. NIOSH researchers will develop a biomechanical model to analyze the musculoskeletal loading in the knee joint and in the spine region during high knee flexion tasks such as deep squatting, validating the model using human subject testing data, and applying the biomechanical model to improve the knee saver design. The human subject testing data will be obtained from the proposed contract.
SECTION 2 – PURPOSE/OBJECTIVE
The objective of this service contract is to obtain the human biomechanical data required to develop biomechanical models of human deep squatting tasks with and without a knee-saver device. The experimental data shall be generated by the contractor through conducting a series of tests of different knee-saver devices in deep squatting tasks.
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