Brian Harris, CEO and Co-Founder of MedRhythms, on Pioneering Next-Generation Digital Therapeutics to Improve Walking Using Music, Neuroscience, and Technology
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In this episode, we spoke with Brian Harris, CEO and Co-Founder of MedRhythms. We explore Brian’s upbringing and how his passion for music and desire to help people manifested into the career he has today. We dive into his career as a music therapist which led to the creation of MedRhythms. MedRhythms uses sensors, music, and software to build digital therapeutics that aim to improve walking impairments caused by neurologic injuries. MedRhythms raised their series B last year and is featured as one of CBInsights top 150 most innovative digital health companies. Brian is based in Portland, Maine.
In this conversation, Brian and I discussed:
- The story behind the creation of MedRhythms, navigating the business of healthcare, and bringing music therapy to scale
- How the intersection of the brain and musical auditory cues can improve walking for those who suffer from neurological conditions. With the combination of technology, software, and sensors, the innovative therapy can be brought to the masses
- The regulatory considerations of digital therapeutics, the future needs of the industry, and how the solutions treats patients in a way that traditional medical devices and medications cannot
Start at 2:53 Musical Foundation of his Upbringing
On his life of music: Brian loved music growing up. He was trained as a violist and later transitioned to becoming a drummer. He knew that it would be an important part of his life and career. In college he majored in psychology and minored in music, which enabled the opportunity to take an online course on music therapy. The professor gave Brian the opportunity to intern with him for the summer and dive into the field of music therapy.
4:10–6:19 The Internship that Changed his Life
On his impactful summer that changed his life: Brian had the opportunity to intern with a private practice music therapist, the only one in the state of Maine. The very first session that Brian witnessed was with a 18-year-old boy who was severely impaired physically and cognitively. Brian saw how the power of music had a positive impact on the boy’s cognitive and physical abilities, bringing the boy’s family to joyful tears and disbelief.
“I knew that there must be a reason why his brain allowed him to respond that way to music. If we can answer that question that’s when we can truly harness the power of music and replicate it to help a lot of people. My draw to this work has always been answering that question-how can people have these outcomes to music and how do we bring it to everyone that needs it.”
6:19–10:38 The Transition into Music Therapy
On pursuing musical therapy: Brian went to school outside of Boston to get his masters in music therapy with a focus on neuroscience and how it can be clinically applied. He became board certified and worked at Spaulding Rehab Hospital, the Harvard Medical School affiliate. He was responsible for building their first music therapy program treating patients that had neurological conditions such as stroke and brain injury.
The program was seeing great outcomes as it leveraged the deep objective research on the neural connection between music and the human brain. The demand for Brian’s services quickly increased. Families of patients were interested in getting the therapy for their loved ones when they left the hospital and were at home. Brian knew he needed to address this demand somehow.
10:38- 17:16 Creation of MedRhythms and Bringing the Therapy to Scale
“My draw to building MedRhythms really did not have to do with technology per se, but it was really around the power of music to change people’s lives.”
On overcoming the challenges of building a business in healthcare: The first thing Brian did was start a therapy practice and hired more therapists. They started treating more patients in other hospitals and in their homes. The challenge soon became that there were simply not enough music therapists with this training. Brian knew that in order to scale he needed technology to be able to deliver this therapy without a clinician present.
On developing the business from 0 to 1: Brian worked with his co-founder Owen McCarthy who has a background in biomedical engineering and MBA from Harvard Business School. Shifting the business model away from fee-for-service to a product was particularly challenging. Additionally, a lot of early testing was needed to replicate a clinician’s input and response to a patient into an algorithm.
On keeping patients at the center of the business: Brian kept a network of patients that was critical in the development of the prototype and ultimate product. He emphasized the importance of patients and keeping them at the center of everything they do. This continues today as he has a patient advisory board and continues to do user testing.
“I knew that building a business in healthcare was going to be hard. I also knew that there would be nobody on earth that is more passionate about bringing this to patients that need it than me and also who would be willing to work harder to do it.”
17:16–24:46 Diving Deeper into the Technology and User Experience
On how music as a therapy works: It is based on auditory motor entrainment. This mechanism of action uses an external auditory cue to engage the motor system because the auditory system and motor system are subconsciously connected. It works for those that are neurologically healthy but can also help those that suffer from neurological conditions.
On the type of music that is needed for the MedRhythms Therapy: Brian states that the music he uses to build out this therapy needs to have consistent rhythm, consistent tempo, certain time signatures, and certain beat salience. Additionally, he states that the brain responds to music that you like or that you are familiar with. Combing those two aspects can be the best-case clinical outcome for patients.
On the partnership with Universal Music Group (UMG): Universal Music Group is one of the world’s largest entertainment companies and owns nearly 50% of music. MedRhythms recognized that patients respond better to music that they are familiar with and that they like. Therefore, MedRhythms partnered with UMG to use their catalog of music and transform the music people love into therapeutically valuable treatments. Stevie Wonder music works especially well!
On the product and user experience: The user experience is simple. Patients open the MedRhythms app and listen to the music that they enjoy. Sensors are placed on the patient’s shoes and clinical-grade biomechanics data is collected real-time while the patient walks. The data feeds into the algorithm which augments the music based upon on how the patient is walking.
24:46–28:18 Digital Therapeutics or Software as a Medical Device as the New Way to Treat Disease and the Regulatory Considerations
On the advantages of digital therapeutics: Digital therapeutics is a newer field and we are starting to see some recent successes in FDA approvals with companies in this space. In general, the risk and safety profile is different than a medication or medical device implant. Brian discusses that there certainly are risks and not all digital therapeutics are treated the same, but the FDA is being more progressive in this space. Clinical trial enrollment may also be a lot quicker which can get these therapies to market sooner.
28:18-30:55 Recent Series B Financing, Strategic Partnerships, and Milestones
“When we think about success and scaling globally, success doesn’t happen in silos. That means we need to partner both with folks in our industry, folks in healthcare, but also folks outside our industry as well. The partnership with Universal Music Group is a perfect example of a healthcare consumer industry collaboration that can really make a big impact.”
On the next milestones: Brian believe it is an exciting time having just raised their series B and looking into the future with their growing team. They are looking to bring their first product for chronic stroke to market and expanding their pipeline into other clinical trials such as Parkinson’s disease.
30:55-End Advice for Aspiring Entrepreneurs and Closing Thoughts on the Digital Therapeutics Space
On the future of digital therapeutics: The next frontier is bringing these companies to market. Brian believes we need more companies doing this and innovating in this area, which raises up the industry in general. He gets excited about neurology specifically, because the sensory nature of the brain makes it a prime application for digital therapeutics. Utilizing sensory input is an exciting avenue for more therapy development.
