Veterans with Peripheral Neuropathy will be a Key Market
Eden Prairie (June 12, 2019) – RxFunction, Inc. has announced the market launch of Walkasins®, a wearable lower limb sensory neuroprosthesis that helps improve balance and gait in patients who experience balance problems due to sensory peripheral neuropathy. The announcement comes as the company is exhibiting Walkasins at the American Physical Therapy Association NEXT 2019 Conference June 12 -15 in Chicago, Illinois.
Walkasins is available by prescription only. Patients with peripheral neuropathy and experiencing balance problems should consult with their healthcare provider to determine if they could benefit from Walkasins. Additional information about product availability and patient qualifications can be found on the RxFunction website at www.rxfunction.com.
“The completion of product development and the move to market launch and production is an exciting and historic moment for our company,” said Tom Morizio, RxFunction CEO. “This marks the culmination of building the organization, hiring and training sales and operational staff, launching our walk2Wellness long-term clinical trial and publishing results of an earlier clinical trial in PLOS ONE. We will first offer Walkasins within the Veterans Administration, which has a large number of veterans with peripheral neuropathy who may benefit from our product.
“With the Walkasins market launch, RxFunction is poised to play a leadership role in development of innovative wearable technology for those with this disabling neuromuscular disorder,” Morizio stated.
Lars Oddsson, PhD, co-inventor of Walkasins and co-founder of RxFunction, added “I am incredibly pleased to see the technology that we’ve been researching and developing for many years reach completion and move into production. This brings us one step closer to helping people suffering with peripheral neuropathy.”
Morizio also said that the walk2Wellness long-term clinical trial soon will be expanded with two additional sites. The walk2Wellness study, designed to determine the effectiveness of Walkasins on peripheral neuropathy patients with a high risk of falling, began in late 2018 at three U.S. medical centers: Veterans Administration Medical Center in Minneapolis; Fairview Health Services in Minneapolis; and Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas. The study will evaluate Walkasins impact on approximately 125 patients for up to one year. More information about study site locations, enrollment status, and requirements can be found at ClinicalTrials.gov.
RxFunction’s prior research study found that short-term use of Walkasins® improved balance and gait speed and lowered fall-risk among participating patients who lacked sensation in their feet and were at high risk of falls. The randomized cross-over study of 31 peripheral neuropathy patients was led by Sara Koehler-McNicholas, PhD at the Minneapolis VA Adaptive Design and Engineering Program. Results of the study were published in PLOS ONE on April 30, 2019.
Walkasins was created to help improve balance in patients who experience gait and mobility problems due to sensory peripheral neuropathy, a disorder where the nerves in the feet are damaged causing numbness. According to the National Institutes of Health, an estimated 20 million Americans have some form of peripheral neuropathy, commonly a consequence of diabetes and chemotherapy, and widely present in the elderly population.
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About RxFunction, Inc.
RxFunction, Inc. is a medical device company with a mission to design and market medical technologies that restore balance, increase mobility, and enhance confidence for patients at risk of falling. Privately held and headquartered in Eden Prairie, Minnesota, RxFunction™ created the Walkasins® lower limb sensory prosthesis, building upon patented technology developed by co-founder and scientist Lars Oddsson, PhD. Development of Walkasins® was supported by a Small Business Innovation Research grant from the National Institutes of Health (AG040865) and the product is manufactured in Minnesota. RxFunction, Inc. has registered with the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA); Walkasins® is listed with the FDA and is available for sale in the United States. (http://www.rxfunction.com)
Walkasins® and RxFunction™ are trademarks of RxFunction, Inc.
