Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Please read the instructions for Submission for more information on method, terms
and conditions of your submission of Solution Reports. For the most recent closing
date for all Requests for Invention please log in to your account at
http://network.xinova.com.
SUMMARY
RFI Partnership
This Request for Invention (RFI) is sponsored by PepsiCo. As one of the largest food
and beverage companies in the world, PepsiCo’s mission is to provide consumers
around the world with delicious, affordable, convenient and complementary foods
and beverages from wholesome breakfasts to healthy and fun daytime snacks to
evening treats.
PepsiCo centers its strategy and operations on the theme of Performance with
Purpose – aligning what is good for their business with what is good for society and
the planet. It starts with what they make – a wide range of foods and beverages
from the indulgent to the more nutritious; extends to how they make their products
– conserving precious natural resources and fostering environmental responsibility
in and beyond their operations, and considers those who make them – striving to
support communities where they work and the careers of generations of talented
PepsiCo employees.
Problem Definition
All forms of digestible carbohydrates are eventually broken down to glucose, the
simplest carbohydrate. Often, the body stores glucose as glycogen, a chain of
connected glucose molecules. For the purposes of this document, the term
carbohydrate will mean glucose and glycogen.
Carbohydrates are the body’s preferred fuel to sustain the muscle activity during
more intense exercise or activity because they are metabolized quicker than fats.
Carbohydrate availability is a measure of the amount of blood glucose and
glycogen stored in the muscles (and liver), as the total carbohydrate accessible.
Carbohydrate utilization, or the conversion of blood glucose and muscle glycogen
to pyruvate and lactic acid, takes place to produce more adenosine triphosphate
(ATP), which allows the muscle cells to contract.
Measuring carbohydrate availability is typically done invasively and requires
laboratory instrumentation. Likewise, measuring carbohydrate utilization is
typically done in a lab setting through repeated blood sampling and breath
monitoring for oxygen and carbon dioxide concentrations. Thus, it is not possible to
discern an athlete’s carbohydrate availability and utilization in real-time via a
practical field-based method.
Xinova is seeking non-invasive, portable methods to measure physiological
carbohydrate availability and utilization in the body before, during, and
after physical activity in real-time (or close to it).
Background
Adenosine Triphosphate (ATP)
During physical activity, exercise, or sports the body needs energy to perform.
Initially, the body draws upon compounds containing energy which are stored in the
body as adenosine triphosphate (ATP) or creatine phosphate. Energy released by
the breakdown of ATP enables muscle cells to contract. However, as these
compounds in storage run out, the body needs to replenish them. Fats and
carbohydrates are the primary energy sources for the body to enable sustained
muscle function beyond the initial utilization of stored reserves of ATP and creatine
phosphate. Fats are metabolized slower than carbohydrates and are the ideal fuel
during longer duration or lower intensity workouts. The more intense the activity,
the more the body relies on carbohydrates for energy.
Anaerobic vs Aerobic Metabolism
The metabolism of carbohydrates can be anaerobic or aerobic depending on the
athlete’s exertion level. Anaerobic carbohydrate metabolism, or anaerobic
glycolysis, is a breakdown of glucose without the need for oxygen. This metabolic
energy pathway kicks in under high intense activity where there is not enough
oxygen to supply the muscles with the energy they need and is usually only
sustained for several minutes.
Aerobic metabolism fuels the body with most of its energy need for a longer
duration of time, where oxygen helps convert glucose to ATP. In either case,
during high bursts of activity or longer endurance activity, carbohydrate utilization
is a key component to athletic performance.
Carbohydrate Availability
Blood glucose measurement
Blood glucose concentration is the amount of glucose present in the blood and is
tightly regulated by the body through metabolic homeostasis. Glucose is the
primary source of energy for the cells and is transported from the intestines or liver
to the other cells of the body through the bloodstream. Glucose is made available
for cell absorption by insulin. Blood-glucose monitoring is the typical test to
determine the concentration of glucose in the blood, usually performed by a simple
needle stick to generate a single drop of blood. Many non-invasive technologies are
being developed that do not require a blood test but are based on patterns of light,
ultrasonic methods, electromagnetics, and thermal patterns. As a standalone
measure, blood glucose concentrations tell us little about carbohydrate availability,
unless concentrations stay low for a prolonged period of time.
Although muscle biopsy is the most common way to measure glycogen stores, this
is extremely invasive and other methods are in development. NMR has been used
to non-invasively measure brain glycogen in humans (Oz et al. 2013). However,
this and other similar methods in development are theoretical laboratory studies.
Carbohydrate Utilization
Invention Suggestions
Solution Characteristics
Cost should skew toward scalability or could be at cost for targeted use with
performance athletes
Out of scope
Invasive, diagnostic equipment or device
Biopsies and other surgical methods
https://www.maximintegrated.com/content/dam/files/design/technical-documents/white-papers/wearable-sports-
technology.pdf
The body sensors market is another relevant market for the invention. This market
includes health patches, skin sensors, flexible energy-harvesting sensors, and
implantable sensors. The leading segment of end users in the market is
sports/athletes. This market is closely related to smart clothing, wearable
garments that can be used to measure certain aspects or activities of the body.
The sensors are built into or woven into the fabric of the garment alleviating most
skin irritations that could be caused by skin contact with devices. There are many
applications for these sensors including sports and fitness. Smart clothing is
projected to reach $603 million by 2020.
Competitive Landscape
There are many companies within the competitive landscape that are developing
technologies for improved metabolic sensing. A direct competitor to the currently
proposed invention is MuscleSound, who has developed a non-invasive way to
image muscle glycogen using ultrasound. The system includes software to read the
ultrasound images. The MuscleSound technology is proprietary and appears to be
on the market as of 2016 (https://www.musclesound.com/product/glycogen/).
BSXinsight is a wearable device the measures lactic acid in the calf. The device is
contained within a compression sleeve worn on the calf and uses LED light to
measure aerobic and anaerobic fitness. The LED light array passes through the
muscle, is reshaped by chromophores of the tissue creating a biosignal that is
captured and analyzed by BSX algorithms to generate a profile. A real-time lactate
threshold curve is generated that it claimed to be as accurate as blood-based
methods (https://www.bsxinsight.com/technology).
LifeWave Biomedical has developed a single, small, wireless, and wearable device
that measures respiration rate, rhythm, and estimation ventilation, and claims to be
able to determine anaerobic threshold (http://www.lifewavebiomed.com/Athletics).
LifeWave uses microwave radiofrequency technologies to develop internal organ
tissue assessment devices with real-time monitoring. However, the applications for
their products currently appear to be medical as opposed to exercise physiology or
fitness-related.
Some other relevant markets for a carbohydrate sensor include medical sensors
with applications for diabetes. This is a multi-billion-dollar market and there is an
unmet need for non-invasive technologies that do not include a needle stick to test
for blood glucose. The weight loss market is another market that could be relevant.
If the sensor is modified, there may also be an application for animal production in
relation to animal metabolism for both meat and dairy with each of these markets
attracting billions of dollars globally. The military may also have use for this type of
sensor since food is an issue in this industry.
Reference Links
http://www.ustfccca.org/assets/symposiums/2014/Endurance-SanMilan-
2014.pdf
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3435910/
http://home.trainingpeaks.com/blog/article/why-athletes-need-
carbohydrates
http://home.trainingpeaks.com/blog/article/the-importance-of-
carbohydrates-and-glycogen-for-a
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VO2_max
http://www.runningforfitness.org/faq/vo2-max
http://www.unm.edu/~rrobergs/478Ergometry.pdf
https://www.sharecare.com/health/evaluating-measuring-fitness-
levels/what-watts-determine-exercise-intensity
http://blog.eliteclubs.com/understanding-your-cardio-machine-what-are-
watts/#sthash.vhvksWC4.dpbs
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lactate_threshold
http://www.concept2.com/indoor-rowers/training/tips-and-general-
info/anaerobic-threshold
http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/167027-overview
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lactic_acidosis
http://facstaff.bloomu.edu/jandreac/class_notes/05.575/Labs/EPOC-Lab.pdf
http://rhinofitness.ca/articles/article_lactate_testing.html
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2771521/
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/263290852_Carbohydrate_availab
ility_and_exercise_training_adaptation_Too_much_of_a_good_thing
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2771521/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4213373/
http://dailyburn.com/life/health/how-to-measure-body-fat-percentage/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12742076
http://www.notimpossiblenow.com/lives/future-of-measuring-stress--and-
other-things--is-in-wearable-devices
https://www.karger.com/Article/Pdf/327398
http://www.notimpossiblenow.com/lives/future-of-measuring-stress--and-
other-things--is-in-wearable-devices
http://www.gssiweb.org/en/publications/all/carbohydrate
https://breakingmuscle.com/learn/understanding-glycolysis-what-it-is-and-
how-to-feed-it
http://www.abnewswire.com/pressreleases/smart-fitness-wear-market-is-
expected-to-grow-at-a-cagr-of-30-over-the-forecast-period-from-2016-to-
2024-market-report-by-hexa-research_86505.html
http://www.mobihealthnews.com/41023/report-sport-fitness-wearable-
market-to-grow-29-percent-by-2019
https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/global-body-sensors-
market-research-report-forecast-to-2027
http://www.marketresearch.com/product/sample-8982825.pdf
https://www.maximintegrated.com/content/dam/files/design/technical-
documents/white-papers/wearable-sports-technology.pdf
Appendix A
Exercise Physiology
When an action potential from a nerve reaches the neuromuscular junction, calcium
is released from the sarcoplasmic reticulum into the cytoplasm of the muscle cell.
The calcium binds Troponin C by the actin filaments, resulting in muscle
contraction. Afterwards, the calcium is pumped back into the sarcoplasmic
reticulum by an active pump that requires energy in the form of the high energy
bonds in ATP (adenosine triphosphate). ATP is also hydrolysed by myosin during
the contraction cycling. Thus, the more the muscle contracts, the more energy in
the form of ATP is required (Figure 1).
Figure 1. Contraction of a Muscle Fiber. A cross-bridge forms between actin and the myosin heads
triggering contraction. As long as Ca++ ions remain in the sarcoplasm to bind to troponin, and as long
as ATP is available, the muscle fiber will continue to shorten.
The creatine is converted to creatinine and excreted in the urine. The stores of PCr
are extremely limited and can only support muscle ATP levels for about 10 seconds
if there were no other sources of ATP, but given the rapidity of this source and the
localization in muscle cells, it is an important source for rapid, explosive exercise.
Figure 2: The two major metabolic pathways to product ATP in the cell: aerobic and anaerobic.
Source: http://www.differencebetween.com/difference-between-aerobic-and-vs-anaerobic-
metabolism/
Glucose Regulation
The body obtains glucose and various isometric forms through digestion, where
they are taken up by the intestines. The various forms include starch, glycogen,
disaccharides and monosaccharides. In healthy people, glucose concentration in
the blood is tightly regulated between 4-6 mM. This is regulated by a highly
sophisticated network of hormones and neuropeptides released from the brain,
pancreas, liver, intestine and adipose and muscle tissue. The central player for
blood glucose regulation is the pancreas, which produces the blood sugar lowering
hormone, insulin and its opponent glucagon. Insulin acts by promoting the
absorption of glucose from the blood into fat, liver and skeletal muscle cells. In
these cells, it is either converted into glycogen via glycogenesis or fats
(triglycerides) via lipogenesis, or in the case of liver, both. During glycogenesis,
they cease to secrete, and the pancreatic alpha cells increase their glucagon
secretion into the blood.
During rest, the body maintains the glucose levels and draws most of its energy
requirements from the oxidation of lipids. However, with exercise, muscle demand
for glucose can increase significantly, with uptake increasing up to 30-50X over
resting levels. The increase in muscle glucose uptake is related to the work load
and the duration of the exercise. Nevertheless, glucose homeostasis is usually
maintained despite increased glucose uptake by the working muscle, through the
catabolism of liver and muscle glycogen stores. As intensity of the exercise
increases, carbohydrate is the preferred fuel since its metabolism yields more
energy per liter of O2 than fat metabolism, and it can also produce energy in the
absence of O2 as discussed above. However, as duration increases, fat use
increases and carbohydrate use decreases since fat metabolism provides more
energy per unit mass than carbohydrate metabolism.
Fuel selection is also driven by the need to preserve muscle glycogen. With
prolonged exercise, more energy is derived from fats and amino acids, glycerol,
lactate and pyruvate carbons are recycled into glucose to spare glycogen and thus
delay exhaustion.
VO2 max
Where Q is the cardiac output of the heart, CaO2 is arterial oxygen content, and
CvO2 is venous oxygen content. These values are obtained during exertion at
maximal effort. Other estimates of VO2 max include the Uth-Sorensen-Overgaard-
Pedersen estimation, the Cooper test, the Multi-stage fitness test (or beep test),
and the Rockport fitness test. VO2 max is accepted to be the best measurement of
cardiovascular fitness and maximal aerobic power.
W=FxD
Watts can be used to measure the rate of energy conversion and is defined as one
joule per second. Watts, or work rate, is a measurement of the power that is being
Using this information, an athlete can train to create power to achieve optimal
results. If the specific value of power is known, workouts can be optimized to
improve upon watts.
Anaerobic/Lactate Threshold
We will conduct a global review of your invention using a team of experts who will
examine the technology, potential products, markets, future customers and existing
landscape.
We will select the best proposed solutions gathered during the circulation period of
this RFI.
We will pay any awards in installments, as per your written and executed contract
with us.
Notices
Please contact:
Xinova, LLC
701 Fifth Avenue, Suite 4100
Seattle, WA 98104 USA
Xinova Asia Pte. Ltd.
150 Beach Road, # 08-06/08, Gateway West
Singapore 189720
Copyright 2017. All rights reserved.
Any distribution of this document is strictly prohibited.
This document is the proprietary and confidential information of Xinova and any
affiliate thereof.
Inquiries:
David Kraft
dkraft@xinova.com
3. Please direct any questions you may have to your local Xinova office.
Suggestions to refine, broaden or to include new information are welcome.
Any suggestions you provide are given entirely voluntarily and shall not
create any confidentiality obligation for us. We may use the suggestions
without obligation or restriction of any kind.
4. You may submit one or more Solution Reports during the circulation period of
this RFI. Please see the first page for the circulation period. We will not
accept any proposed solutions after the RFI Closing Date.
5. Please contact your local Xinova office for the Solution Report form. Please
fill out the form accurately and completely. Incomplete forms may be
returned to you for further action and may not be considered for acceptance.
9. We will not retain any rights or obligations with respect to declined proposed
solutions.