For More Information Contact:
Maureen Phillips
Cleveland Medical Devices Inc.
Phone: 216.791.6720
mphillips@clevemed.com
www.CleveMed.com
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CLEVEMED RECEIVES FDA CLEARANCE TO MARKET WIRELESS MOVEMENT DISORDER MONITOR
CLEVELAND, OHIO, May 1, 2007 -
Cleveland Medical Devices Inc. (CleveMed) received Food
and Drug Administration (FDA) clearance to market
Kinesia™, a quantitative motor assessment system. Kinesia is a compact wireless system that uses accelerometers and gyroscopes to
monitor three-dimensional motion. The device is worn on the wrist and finger of the patient and
can be used to more conveniently monitor upper extremity movement disorder symptoms and
their fluctuations. Motion and electrical muscle activity (EMG) information from the patient is
wirelessly telemetered to a computer for display and analysis. The
Kinesia software also
integrates videos which guide the patient through tasks known to elicit symptoms, similar to
instructions given by a physician when evaluating upper extremity motor symptoms.
Movement disorders, such as Parkinson´s disease and essential tremor, affect millions of people
worldwide. Associated with these disorders are motor symptoms, most commonly tremor,
bradykinesia (slowed movements) and dyskinesias (exaggerated, involuntary movements) that
can change rapidly and affect quality of life for many individuals. There is currently extensive
research to develop new therapies to treat these disorders. Dr. Peter LeWitt, Director, Division
of Parkinson´s Disease and Movement Disorders for Henry Ford Health Systems and Kinesia user
said, "Progress in developing new therapies needs equipment that can reliably quantify
movement and Kinesia has performed very well in clinical and research settings for high-quality
physiological recordings of tremor and dyskinesia."
Kinesia, formerly ParkinSense
™, is a device developed by CleveMed to monitor these symptoms
either in the clinic or at home. This is important because over the course of a day, a patient´s
symptoms can include dramatic shifts from tremor to dyskinesia making activities of daily living
difficult. More continuous monitoring and tracking of symptom fluctuation patterns can provide
better insight on how symptoms respond to pharmaceutical drug interventions or procedures
such as deep brain stimulation.
"Objectively quantifying motor symptoms of movement disorders such as Parkinson´s disease
and essential tremor is critical to understanding changes in response to interventions. Symptom
fluctuation patterns are difficult to capture during an office visit", said
Joseph Giuffrida, PhD,
Director of the Division of Movement Disorders at CleveMed. "The Kinesia system provides more
continuous monitoring through a novel,
patient worn technology platform that wirelessly
transmits motion and muscle activity anywhere. The compact, untethered engineering design
allows great flexibility for clinical measurements and research."
While the current system provides a novel tool for quantifying movement disorder symptoms,
CleveMed will continue to improve the system over the next year. A clinical study comparing
Kinesia quantitative outputs to clinician scores for Parkinson´s disease motor symptoms of
tremor, bradykinesia, and dyskinesia is in its final stages. The system has shown good
correlations between the device output and clinician evaluation results with forty patients while
an additional twenty patients are planned. Using that data, CleveMed plans to integrate
automated symptom detection and scoring features into the software and provide symptom
severity reports to clinicians. Additionally, CleveMed plans to package the reports into a webbased
application that will allow clinicians to retrieve reports directly from a patient´s home.
The Division of Movement Disorders at CleveMed is focused on quantifying movement disorder
symptoms and providing home based therapy aimed at restoring function. The movement
disorder product line includes a series of products for improving the quality of life for people
living with movement disorders. KinetiSense™ is a device developed using the same technology
platform as Kinesia. It is used for research applications such as gait research, physical therapy
applications and balance and posture research. Also in development is a home therapy device
for children with cerebral palsy and persons who have suffered a stroke. The system uses a
combination of functional electrical stimulation, motion sensors and EMG to aid in therapy to
restore motor function.
About CleveMed
CleveMed was founded with the goal of developing innovative telemetry devices for a variety of medical
applications. Today, CleveMed is developing and pioneering the use of novel wireless monitoring
systems for high growth neurology and rehabilitation applications, including
movement disorders,
sleep
disorders and brain monitoring. Through these innovations, CleveMed has developed a growing range of
products that address the needs of the
medical,
research and
academic communities. For more
information, please visit
www.CleveMed.com