Encora Therapeutics: AI-powered Smart Wearable Device for Tremor Reduction
Problem: Tremors
When you search “tremors” in Google, you see two types of results. One is the 1990 American horror film with Kevin Bacon where a small desert town in Nevada has to fight giant underground worm-like monsters that are highly sensitive to vibrations aka “tremors.” A must-see classic!
The other Google results focus on involuntary rhythmic shaking of hands or other body parts experienced by nearly 1 million Parkinson’s disease (PD) patients and 7 million essential tremor (ET) patients in the US alone [1]. Unlike the make-believe experience of the folks in the movie, these tremors are real and impactful for patients and their loved ones.
Tremors can begin in ET patients during childhood through their mid-40s. Most people with PD first show tremors in their mid-50s, but there are also younger-onset patients. Most start out with mild tremors, but as they age, the shaking progresses to such severity making it difficult or even impossible to perform work and daily life tasks. Because of the highly visible nature of the disorder, many feel embarrassed, which also leads to significant social isolation and depression.
There is no cure for ET or PD. While there are a variety of treatment options available, these therapies can bring side effects, do not work for all patients and do not fully reduce the shaking. Additionally, they can become less effective after years of use [2][3][4]. Some patients opt for surgical procedures such as deep brain stimulation and focused ultrasound. While both can reduce tremors, they are highly invasive, irreversible, and expensive — not making them an ideal option for many.
In the last couple years, a few technology startups (Cala Health, Steadiwear, and others) have launched less invasive wearable products with mechanical or electrical stimulations to help reduce tremors.
“Many people with Parkinson’s want easier ways to manage troublesome symptoms. Technology-enabled solutions that complement existing treatments are an attractive option, and we’re glad to see so many companies and partners investing in this space,” said Brian Fiske, PhD, Senior VP of Research at The Michael J Fox Foundation, which supports a portfolio of various technology treatments, and discussed patient needs in this area with Innospark.
While it’s great to see recent innovation in the space, nothing has yet hit the nail on the head in terms of efficacy, user-friendliness, and cost. Clearly PD and ET patients are still looking for a better, less expensive, less invasive and more user-friendly solution.
Solution: Meet Encora Therapeutics
Four MIT mechanical engineering students tackled this problem as part of their senior year capstone project. After learning about the great patient need and building a unique prototype with promising early efficacy results, Daniel Carballo, Alli Davanzo, Kyle Pina, and Trang Luu built Encora Therapeutics.
Encora is early in its journey in developing and launching an AI-powered wearable device that senses tremor severity in real time and introduces dynamic personalized vibro-tactile stimulus to the wrist. The “noise-canceling” device will not only help significantly reduce tremors and stiffness in a discrete and user-friendly way, but also help patients and physicians monitor disease progression in real time and optimize the care journey. Most importantly, with extended use, it could potentially “rewire” the brain for a long-term therapeutic impact based on a scientific concept known as “entrainment.” This is what we are most excited about — Encora’s unique scientific approach to its solution and the potential for more than just symptom relief.
In addition to the uniqueness and potential of the technology, we are super excited about the Encora team — a group of highly ambitious, energetic, and brilliant people (check out how the CEO, Daniel Carballo, was recently honored in BostInno’s 25 Under 25 Annual Awards). Armed with significant AI and robotics work experiences at companies like Apple, Northrop Grumman, and NASA, the Encora team is also joined by a strong scientific advisory board with members from key Centers of Excellence for Parkinson’s Disease. But most importantly, Encora has the drive and passion to solve this problem and help PD and ET patients.
As mentioned in their press release, the Innospark team is thrilled to welcome the Encora team to our portfolio and join their journey in bringing a less invasive, more user-friendly, cheaper, and more efficacious solution to Parkinson’s and essential tremor patients.
2. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3991161/
