A Structural Problem Required a New Institution
The evidence has not kept pace with the technology. Exoskeletons are lighter, wearable respiratory monitors more precise, and pulmonary rehabilitation more sophisticated than it was a decade ago. But studies still enroll too slowly, measure the wrong things, and produce fragments instead of foundations.
Studies enroll too slowly because trial networks were built for other therapeutic areas. Endpoints measure what is publishable rather than what persuades regulators, payers, and health systems. Evidence accumulates in fragments: enough for a poster session, not enough to change clinical practice.
TICM was not adapted from an existing academic program. It was founded from the ground up to address the specific structural failures in how evidence gets generated for cardiopulmonary mobility technologies.
Institutional Context
TICM is an initiative of Texas Pulmonary Foundation, giving the institute a nonprofit parent organization and a clearer institutional base as it develops its translational platform.
Nonprofit
501(c)(3) Research Institute
Houston, TX
Clinical Research Base
Translational
Evidence Designed to Travel
Generating Evidence That Reaches Patients
TICM generates clinically grounded, decision-useful evidence for technologies and interventions in cardiopulmonary mobility, so promising approaches can move from pilot to practice.
The institute exists at the intersection of wearable robotics, cardiopulmonary rehabilitation, and real-world physiologic validation. Its research is designed to serve the full evidence journey: from feasibility through publication to regulatory, payer, and clinical adoption decisions.
Three Structural Advantages
Every design choice at TICM exists to remove a specific barrier between a promising technology and credible evidence.
01
Clinical Access
TICM is embedded within active cardiopulmonary care. The populations most relevant to mobility technology research are patients we see in clinical practice, not populations we recruit through referral chains.
02
Lean Study Design
Studies designed at the scale and pace appropriate to where a technology actually is. Smaller initial commitments. Evidence structured to inform the next decision, not just the next publication.
03
Endpoints That Persuade
Functional capacity. Cardiopulmonary performance. Real-world mobility outcomes. Selected for their utility across peer review, regulatory submission, payer evaluation, and clinical adoption.
What TICM Is Not
TICM is not a contract research organization. It is not a hospital marketing initiative. It is not an academic department with a website.