The American Association of Equine Practitioners (AAEP) released a Request for Proposal (RFP) soliciting proposals from applicants for a joint project that will involve the development and application of wearable biometric sensor technologies to improve early detection of musculoskeletal injuries in Thoroughbred racehorses in the United States.

Wearable biometric sensors have shown promise in the identification of sub-clinically affected racehorses or those at risk of musculoskeletal injury. Any proposed system that monitors musculoskeletal parameters related to gait needs to have data transmission capabilities that interface with algorithms designed to detect injury; be scalable enough for widespread use; and be user-friendly and economical in order to be employed on all Thoroughbred racehorses for all races and recorded workouts.

The AAEP will work with the successful applicant(s) on funding, licensing agreements, commercialization efforts and other legal issues. Depending on the nature of the response to this proposal request, the AAEP may also solicit funding from industry leaders.

The RFP is available here. Pre-proposals are due Feb. 15, 2024. Interested applicants should direct all questions and/or a response to this proposal request to AAEP Racing Committee Chair Dr. Sara Langsam at langsam@tfbequine.com.

Issuance of this RFP is among nine recommendations coming out of the AAEP-sponsored Forum on Thoroughbred Safety and Injury Prevention, which in late September convened 23 invited private racetrack practitioners, regulatory veterinarians, surgeons and radiologists to explore additional measures to reduced racehorse injuries.