Built for one child. Needed by thousands.
A wearable assistive positioning device designed to support individuals with neurodevelopmental conditions by limiting upper limb range of motion during daily activities — enabling participation in community, home, school, and occupational therapy settings.
Repetitive hand-to-mouth stereotypy causes progressive dental trauma, soft tissue injury, gingival damage, and oral self-harm in individuals with autism spectrum disorder, Rett syndrome, intellectual disabilities, and related neurodevelopmental conditions. These movements occur hundreds to thousands of times per day — continuous, involuntary, and damaging.
Existing interventions each fail a critical dimension of real-world ambulatory care. Pharmaceutical treatments carry significant side effects. Behavioral interventions require intensive therapist time and provide no continuous protection. Physical devices in the prior art are limited to full-hand mittens designed for bed-bound patients, elastic biofeedback straps that allow hand-to-face contact, or bilateral systems requiring dedicated restraint garments.
The gap: No commercially available device physically prevents hand-to-mouth contact while attaching to existing clothing without a dedicated garment, preserving functional arm use at waist level, and providing caregiver-controlled quick release for eating and daily activities. RETT Medical was founded to close that gap.
The RETT device is a three-component wearable assistive positioning system engineered for continuous ambulatory use in home, school, community, and clinical occupational therapy settings. Designed with dignity-first principles for a population that may be unable to report discomfort. Configured for single-arm unilateral application.
Dual-layer hook-and-loop construction with interior sponge padding against the skin. Distributes tether tension across the full wrist circumference — eliminating pressure concentration. Adjustable for adult and pediatric sizing without size-specific variants.
Polycarbonate housing. Non-elastic cord extending to a maximum of 36 inches. Up to 6 oz retraction force. Retraction lock removes tension and stops cord retraction at the selected extension length — a hard mechanical stop, not elastic resistance.
Crocodile-jaw inverted-tooth design with thumbscrew locking. Adjustable bite force for fabrics of varying thickness. Attaches at any position on any existing clothing — waistband, belt loops, belt, pockets. No dedicated garment required. Caregiver quick-release.
"A wearable assistive positioning device designed to support individuals with neurodevelopmental conditions by limiting upper limb range of motion during daily activities, enabling participation in community, home, school, and occupational therapy settings."
Comprehensive prior art searches across USPTO, Google Patents, Espacenet, and WIPO confirmed no blocking patents. The universal clothing attachment — enabling secure positional placement at any location on any existing garment without a dedicated restraint garment — is the novel core of the invention and is unaddressed by all known prior art.
Experimental use has been continuous, private, and familial since June 2016 — ten years of iterative prototype development documented by photographic evidence, school IEP records (FERPA-protected), and Pennsylvania state agency Individual Support Plan records. No commercial use, public disclosure, or offer for sale occurred prior to the May 31, 2026 provisional filing date.
| Reference | Description | Status |
|---|---|---|
| US5016650A | Bilateral waist-brief restraint — requires dedicated garment, no quick-release, expired | Cleared |
| CA3076042A1 | Elastic biofeedback wrist strap — entirely elastic, hand can reach face, general population | Cleared |
| US8733365B2 | Releasable arm/leg restraint — no universal clothing attachment, no retractable tether | Cleared |
| US11759689B2 | Running form trainer — athletic purpose, elastic bands, bilateral, torso harness | Cleared |
| JP3134866U | Nursing care mitten — full hand enclosure, bed-bound use, expired | Cleared |
| US12614626B2 | AI/ML behavioral prediction system — software only, no physical device claims | Cleared |
RETT Medical LLC is seeking an engineering and manufacturing partner with established capability in assistive technology or durable medical equipment. The objective is a licensing arrangement that brings the RETT device to market under an established distribution network.
All technical discussions are conducted under mutual NDA. Engineering partner engagements currently underway.
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