For stroke victims with mobility issues, a new software system could literally be music to their ears.
The program, InTandem, was created by neurotherapeutics company MEDRhythms and is an approved Class II medical device with the US Food and Drug Administration, the company announced this week.
The program uses a technique known as Rhythmic Auditory Stimulation, which aims to synchronize a cue, such as music, with motor movements.
Just over 70% of strokes occur in older adults aged 65 or more years. The majority of older adult stroke survivors have mobility issues, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention notes.
“Today is a historic day for MedRhythms,” Brian Harris, MEDRhythms CEO and co-founder, said in a statement. “This important milestone enables the world’s first prescription music platform, and is a remarkable day for our company, for music, for healthcare, and most importantly for stroke survivors.”
The technology works by pairing sensors – clipped to a user’s shoes – with headphones and a smartphone; the patient listens to music and walks to a beat determined by the software to stimulate progress and work toward a clinical goal, the company’s website explains.
Stroke victims have an increasing number of technology tools available to aid their rehabilitation: a touch screen tool for upper limb recovery, EDNA, has been available for several years now, while a recently released sensor-based stroke rehabilitation tool, PrimSeq, monitors upper body movement, McKnight’s reported last year.
The potential for music therapy to treat stroke patients has been known for some time and has become an emerging rehab tool, but the field has room for expansion and more clinical studies are necessary to popularize the technique, researchers noted last year.
Earlier this year, MEDRhythms announced the completion, and success, of InTandem clinical trials, and it will be available in “select markets” soon, the company stated.
