Accredited gold winner of the 2020
Edison Award, Cala Trio by Cala Health is one-of-a-kind non-invasive
personalized prescription therapy for hand tremors in adults. Thanks to Cala
Trio, one of the most prevalent tremor disorders that affect over seven million
people in the United States, can now be easily managed and treated with
the wrist-worn neuromodulation device. The advanced medical device
can be used at home, unsupervised, and under real-world conditions so that it
flows with your life. Offering a new approach for managing tremors without any
systemic side effects, the bioelectronic alternative, Cala Trio provides
excellent outcomes and improves the quality of life for patients suffering from
essential tremors or tremors implicated by Parkinson's disease.
Working
The first wrist-worn non-invasive
medical device works more effectively than a mass-prescribed medication by
effectively and directly targeting the source of the tremor. The
ground-breaking therapy is calibrated to treat the tremor, a common motor
symptom of Parkinson’s, that was earlier irreversibly debilitating. The FDA-approved Cala
Trio works by sending small electric signals to the brain to stimulate
tremor-associated nerve cells in the wrist. The wearable transcutaneous nerve
stimulator involves two functioning electrodes well-positioned over the median
and radial nerves on the anterior surface of the wrist and a counter electrode placed
on the posterior surface of the wrist. The device consists of an accelerometer
that measures the frequency of the patient’s tremor, which enables personalized
calibration of the stimulation intensity. The two working electrodes transmit
electrical signals that excite the median and radial nerves in the upper limbs.
Peripheral sensory nerves also project to the ventral intermediate nucleus
(VIM) of the thalamus and neural circuits associated with essential tremors.
The mode of action of the wrist band is somewhat similar to deep brain
stimulation, where electrical stimulation of VIM elicits very fast
oscillations of tremors. Gradually, the stimulation with Cala Trio normalizes
the neural firing in the pathological tremor network to reduce tremors.
Levodopa, the primary treatment for
managing the motor symptoms is not as effective in treating the tremors as the
non-invasive device, and negatively affects performing easy tasks such as
eating or writing. On the contrary, wearing the Cala Trio wrist band for
two 40-minute sessions per day can create significant changes to
reduce the severity of tremors over the course of three months. The best part
about the device is that the patient does not need to undergo any surgical
procedure, rather he/she need to simply wear a Cala Trio wrist band as a watch
for transient relief.
Essential Tremors can be physically
and psychologically draining so the patients need to choose between living with
tremors or risk unwanted side-effects from pharmacologic treatment options. But
the new approach offered by Cala Trio provides not only efficient treatment but
also prevents the patient from compromising his/her health status. According to
the clinical trials conducted by Cala Health to determine the efficacy of Cala
Trio wrist band, it was found that 57% of patients experienced at least a 50%
reduction in the severity of tremor and 61% reported improvement in their
ability to perform simple tasks such as eating, drinking, and writing.
Cala Health is targeting a large and
under-penetrated market opportunity, providing a simple, easy-to-wear watch for
essential tremor therapy. The company is actually able to see the usage and
kinematic data to understand the usage of the device in real-world settings.
When the patient rests their Cala Trio on the charging station, recorded data
automatically uploads on Cala Health’s cloud platform, which is further
utilized for quality checks.
Cala Trio is designed to
provide at least three to five sessions when charged fully. However, the
patient needs to take medical advice from their physician to determine the
frequency of use that works best for them. With a 40-minute stimulating
session, the patient experience tremor reduction for up to an hour. The stimulator
and base station have an average life of three years while the band has
an expected service life of 90 days. The stimulator comes with a
two-year warranty and the band has a 45-day warranty. The bands are specific to
left and right wrists and can support the patient on both hands. However, the
patient should take prescription from the physician to determine the hand where
tremor reduction can help the most.
Applications
Before wearing the wrist
band, dampen the entire circumference of your wrist with water or use excess
lotion. Moisture helps with the connection between your skin and electrodes and
without water one may experience discomfort or warning display while undergoing
therapy. Cala Trio is calibrated when the patient has their “Tremor Task”
performed thrice. The device calibration helps to characterize tremor and
individualize stimulation. The accelerometers measure motion of the device and
determine the best pattern to deliver the stimulation.
Limitations
Although the device is
convenient to wear, the patient might feel a tingling sensation in
fingers, however the device provides the flexibility to reduce intensity during
the therapy session in case of discomfort. Carla Trio cannot be used if the
patient has a pacemaker, implantable cardiac device, or any other implanted
electronic devices. Since Cala Trio is a novel technology, the first-in-class
therapy requires a prescription. Some of the possible side-effects of
wearing Cala Trio are stinging, sensation of weakness, allergic reaction, skin
irritation, burns, lesions at the site of stimulation, muscle stiffness, chest
pressure, swelling on arm, wrist, or hand. The band electrodes need to be
placed correctly in order to avoid any activity that would cause the placement
of the band to change. Cala Trio is not waterproof so the patient cannot swim
or take shower while wearing the device. Also, Cala Trio is only available in
the USA currently.
Other
Devices for Tremor Suppression
GyroGlove is a wearable medical device that uses mechanical
gyroscopes to resist the patient’s hand movements implicated by Parkinson’s
disease. The gyroscope self-stabilizes to ensure shakes are largely negated and
make everyday tasks easier like using a computer, writing, cooking possible for
someone with involuntary tremors. In the device, the gyroscopes are mounted to
a fabric glove on the dorsal surface of the hand function to combat tremors.
Each gyroscope involves a rotatable disc, capable of rotating about an axis to
resist involuntary motion, allowing angular momentum to be conserved during
rotational displacement. Early GryoGlove tests show reduced significant tremors
in individuals up to 80% and the device has a huge potential to help
professional surgeons, athletes, photographers, etc. The device is currently
under developmental stages and more data is needed to determine its accuracy.
Emma watch introduced by Microsoft is a wrist
wearable that works to reduce the hand tremor diagnosed with Parkinson’s
disease. Emma watch works precisely to alleviate the tremor effects by creating
a vibration cue that distracts the brain from creating involuntary motion of
the hands. The inside of the watch consists of small vibrating motors that
produce vibration in a certain pattern which helps to disrupt the path between
brain and hand, triggering the tremor. Wearing the device, the patient would be
able to feel the tremors, but not see its effects while performing any
activity. The device is currently under clinical trials.
Conclusion
With no cure available to Parkinson’s, medical developers,
and researchers are moving to creating technology to fill the void. Cala Trio
is no less than a modern-day miracle, improving lives of hundreds of people
enabling them to do easy tasks with their hands, which was not possible before.
The device is paving way for more developers to create a technology that can be
life-changing for people living with symptoms of disorders with no cure yet.
According to TechSci
research report on “Global Wearable
Patches Market By Technology (Connected v/s Regular), By Application
(Monitoring, Drug Delivery, Diagnostics, Others), By End User (Healthcare v/s
Fitness & Sports), By Company, By Region, Forecast & Opportunities,
2026”, the global wearable patched market is expected to grow at a steady
rate in the coming years. The growth can be attributed to the huge advancements
in research and technology, increasing prevalence of diabetes around the world,
and introduction of advanced wearable patches. Besides, growing awareness
towards customization of health preferences and emerging technologies for
real-time analytics with constant monitoring and generation of data is expected
to propel the demand for global wearable patches market.
According to another TechSci research report on “Global
Wearable
Medical Devices Market By Type (Vital Signs Monitoring Devices v/s
Therapeutic Devices), By Product Type (Activity Monitors/Trackers, Smartwatches,
Patches, Smart Clothing), By Purpose (Heart rate, Blood Pressure, Body
Temperature, Blood oxygen saturation, Posture, Physical Activities, Hearing
Aids, Others), By Site (Handheld, Headband, Strap/Clip/Bracelet, Shoe Sensors,
Others), By Application (General Health & Fitness, Remote Patient
Monitoring, Home Healthcare), By Distribution Channel (Store-Based v/s
Non-Store-Based), By Business Segment (B2B Vs B2C), By Region, Forecast &
Opportunities, 2025”, the global wearable devices market is projected to
grow at a formidable rate of around 18% on account of growing geriatric
population suffering from various chronic diseases and increasing healthcare
costs. Besides, technological advancements and rapid adoption of AI, IoT, cloud
computing, among others is expected to fuel the demand for global wearable
devices market.