Technology which uses artificial intelligence (AI) electromagnetic therapy to help neurorecovery can reduce disability in stroke patients, new trials have revealed.
BrainQ is developing a cloud-based platform to map brain network activity using explanatory machine learning algorithms, to extract biological insights that translate into precision therapies.
In a recent pilot trial involving 25 stroke patients, patients recovered 77 per cent faster from the disabilities caused by their stroke through the use of the BrainQ technology.
“These pilot results are striking, as BrainQ’s therapy suggests a beneficial effect in the subacute phase,” says Dr Jeffrey Saver, director of the UCLA Comprehensive Stroke and Vascular Neurology Program, and a lead principal investigator for BrainQ’s next phase of clinical trials.
“The current leading interventions for stroke are effective only in the few hours post-stroke and applicable to less than five to ten per cent of patients.
“This technology may have the ability to extend the time period in which corrective therapy can be delivered from hours to days and even weeks, and be applicable to a much larger patient population.
“With 800,000 strokes each year in the US alone, this therapy has the potential to greatly advance stroke care. I’m eager to see the next phase of clinical trials.”
BrainQ’s trial was performed on patients with level 3-4 disability on the modified Rankin Scale (mRS), and showed that after eight weeks of treatment, they had scores of 1 or zero on the mRS, meaning they had either no symptoms or minor symptoms.
Only 25 per cent of the subjects in the control group scored 1 or less, according to the data, and 92 per cent of the subjects in the treatment group improved by two or more mRS points.
The BrainQ subjects’ mRS scores improved by an average of 2.5 points over the course of the study, compared with 1.3 points in the control group.
Traditional treatments lead to an average of recovery of 1.1 points, BrainQ add.
Israel-based BrainQ secured FDA Breakthrough Device Designation for its therapy earlier this year, which will enable the startup to work closely with US regulators to speed up the development and the final approval of the device.
The technology could ultimately have broader application for neurological disorders like spinal cord injury, Parkinson’s and MS, the company says.
The results of the double-blind randomised controlled pilot trial will be presented at the International Stroke Conference on March 17-19.
