While recovering from knee surgery a few years ago, Johnny Ross of Mansfield came up with an idea that sent him on an entrepreneurial quest.

He quit his 15-year career negotiating contracts for medical giant Johnson & Johnson to develop StepRite, a wearable device designed to help patients with their physical therapy for leg injuries or surgery, and to help doctors do a better job with their patients.

His company, MedHab, recently received a huge boost by being named one of the most promising companies at the Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship’s ninth annual Life Science Venture Forum at Rice University in Houston.