Cambridge, Massachusetts headquartered wearable medical robotics company Myomo last week announced that a Myomo-trained Orthotic & Prosthetic (“O&P”) practice in Australia has received its first insurance authorization to fit a patient with a custom MyoPro device.

The practice, X-Tremity Prosthetics and Orthotics, is located in New South Wales and is operated by Jens Baufeldt. It is supported locally by NeuroMuscular Orthotics (NMO), Myomo’s distributor in Australia and New Zealand.

According to Priya Armstrong, Senior Orthotist at NMO, “The patient is a 17-year-old male who was involved in a motor vehicle accident two years ago. This resulted in a traumatic brain injury that left him with upper and lower limb deficits on his left side. We are looking forward to MyoPro helping to restore function to his arm and hand to assist him with the activities of daily living. We hope to receive more insurance approvals as awareness of the benefits of MyoPro become known throughout Australia.” 

WHAT IT DOES

MyoPro is a powered arm and hand orthosis (brace) designed to help restore function to the wearer's paralyzed or weakened upper extremities, helping individuals perform actions and daily activities that might otherwise be impossible. 

The device was originally developed at MIT with Harvard Medical School and works by reading the faint nerve signals (myoelectric signals) from the surface of the skin (fully non-invasive, with no implants) then activating small motors to move the limb as the user intends (no electrical stimulation).

SIMILAR DEVELOPMENTS

In 2018, the Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) developed a robotic arm to facilitate self-help and upper-limb mobile rehabilitation for stroke patients. The robotic arm, called “mobile exo-neuro-musculo-skeleton”, is the first-of-its-kind integration of exo-skeleton, soft robot and exo-nerve stimulation technologies, MobiHealthNews reported.

ON THE RECORD

“We are pleased that our Australian distribution partners have worked with local payers to obtain the first approval for the MyoPro. Clinicians have created a pipeline of qualified patients across Australia awaiting such approval, and now that this first one has been received, we are hopeful many more will follow. Australia represents an excellent market opportunity for us,” said Jon Naft, Myomo Vice President and General Manager, International.