UCHealth patients with mobility impairments due to a neurological diagnosis are now able to try the first FDA-cleared bionic piece of clothing, the CIONIC Neural Sleeve created by CIONIC neurotech company, which helps facilitate walking and moving the legs.
The CIONIC Neural Sleeve – recognized by TIME Best Inventions, the Digital Hub Awards and more – enables those with mobility impairments, such as from multiple sclerosis, cerebral palsy, spinal cord injuries, or strokes, to move with more comfort.
Dr. Enrique Alvarez, assistant medical director of neurology at UCHealth University of Colorado, said devices such as the sleeve are used to help people stay active.
The CIONIC Centers for Excellence allows UCHealth patients to get a sense for the device with physical therapists who have been trained with the equipment. While it’s currently available at the Anschutz campus, depending on the interest, Alvarez said the idea is to expand the device to locations such as Highlands Ranch.
Inspired by his daughter’s mobility impairment, CIONIC Founder and CEO Jeremiah Robison wanted to explore what technology could do for similar patients.
“Our goal was to take technologies that were effective for my daughter’s mobility in a clinical setting and integrate them into clothing that would extend those benefits to her everyday life,” said Robison. “Wearable medical devices that power coordinated care across clinical settings at home and on the go are the future of healthcare.”
UCHealth University of Colorado, along with Craig Hospital and Neuro Physical Therapy, are the first in Colorado to join the CIONIC Centers for Excellence network, which provides neurological medical centers, like UCHealth, with exclusive training and access to the sleeve in the clinical care of patients.
When it comes to treatment for an autoimmune disease like multiple sclerosis, doctors tend to focus on comprehensive care, Alvarez said.
“Because there’s a lot of facets that kind of go on with the disease,” said Alvarez, who is also an associate of neuroimmunology at the University of Colorado School of Medicine and is the vice chair of clinical research for the department.
While there are various modifying therapies, which include certain drugs, when the disease hits the progressive stage, it’s harder to slow down. When damage accumulates, Alvarez said the focus turns to symptom management.
In addition to ensuring the patient’s pain is under control, management also involves getting enough sleep, monitoring their spasms and mobility.
“What’s very clear is that staying active is probably the best medicine we have for that stage of the disease or after an attack,” said Alvarez.
When one of Alvarez’s patients came in wearing the sleeve last year, he became intrigued.
The sleeve delivers Functional Electrical Stimulation to activate muscles in the leg and improve walking in real-time. It uses algorithms to sense and analyze a person’s movement and the sleeve uses sensors to measure the firing patterns of individual muscles and the resultant position of the leg during movement.
“When you have patients that have these disabilities, part of the issue is sometimes there’s some weakness and they [the sleeves] work by trying to sense when you’re about to take a step and then can zap the nerve that goes to the muscles to kind of activate those muscles,” Alvarez said.
Another aspect that stood out for Alvarez was the ability for patients to adjust the device in order to stimulate muscles in different parts of the leg.
Since the CIONIC demo, Alvarez has joined the tech company’s scientific advisory board and has had patients find the product helpful.
“The part I liked about it is it collects information as much as it helps with walking,” said Alvarez. “So trying to kind of figure out what we can learn from it, can we start to measure certain things that we can’t measure right now?”