Archive for October, 2011

Why does the Tailwind cost so much?

Thursday, October 27th, 2011

On this date about 150 years ago, Macy’s opened their doors in New York City and took in over $1000. I thought that was a lot for the time period – but it made me think about a question I hear often: why does the Tailwind cost so much? I thought perhaps I could offer some insight into the development of a medical device.

The Tailwind was developed by Ph.D. researchers at the University of Maryland over a 10-year period. These researchers tested different methods of arm rehabilitation on real subjects, refining their ideas, building prototype after prototype, setting up clinical studies, and publishing their results in prestigious medical journals like the Journal of the American Medical Association. Here’s where you can read more about how the Tailwind was invented: http://www.tailwindtherapy.com/tailwinds-proven-technology/scientific-development-of-tailwind.php

After the researchers arrived at a final prototype, the device was granted a patent in the US, Europe, and Canada. Then the Tailwind was reengineered by a team of medical device engineers to make it durable and
easy to use. This new design was then tested again with patients. Once the final design was chosen, the Tailwind was manufactured to exact specifications, using several manufacturers to create certain parts. The final product was assembled here in Maryland. You can read more about the engineering process here: http://www.tailwindtherapy.com/tailwinds-proven-technology/history-of-tailwind.php

For these reasons, we have kept the price of the Tailwind as low as we can while still paying for the development and manufacture of the device. Bringing a device to market takes a lot of work and lot of years!

Music for Brain ReTraining

Saturday, October 22nd, 2011

This weekend marks the 130th anniversary of the first concert ever given
by the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Over the years, science has proven the many
benefits of listening to music, from relaxation, mood enhancement, and exercise
benefits. But more recently, researchers have discovered a link between music –
or anything rhythmic – and brain plasticity, or rather the brain’s ability to
“rewire” itself following an injury.

Numerous studies have shown that training with a rhythmic auditory cue (such as music
with a strong beat) following a brain injury such as stroke has shown to result
in greater movement gains than doing the exact same training without the
rhythm. The Tailwind device for arm rehabilitation relies on rhythmic auditory
cueing as a key component to its ability to improve arm function and range of
motion for stroke survivors.

It is believed that exercising to music or other auditory cue, such as with a
metronome, may act on central neural facilitation mechanisms (i.e., may
increase neural activity in the brain.) Auditory rhythms appear to enhance
regular motor recruitment patterns. This suggests a relationship between the
auditory and motor systems. The ability of rhythm to retrain motor patterns
leads us to believe that music is a good tool for stroke  rehabilitation
therapy. Next time you’re out for a walk, take along some music!

Stroke Around the World

Wednesday, October 19th, 2011

Europe’s financial woes continue but I’m pleased to say that the Tailwind continues its history of being in high demand in Europe and beyond. When I first launched the Tailwind in 2009, I was surprised by how many people from all over the world contacted me about buying it. I did not expect to have to learn export rules and global shipping processes so soon, but I had to because so many people wanted to purchase it. One of the first to contact me was a woman in France, and she didn’t speak much English and I didn’t know much French. Eventually her son, who lived in New York City, purchased it for her and took it home to France.

Our first distributor was Anatomical Concepts in Scotland (www.anatomicalconcepts.com). The owners are rehabilitation professionals who are very forward-thinking in their approach to stroke recovery, and they had read about the clinical studies involving the Tailwind long before I even founded the company. Today they sell the Tailwind all over the UK.

Since then, we have shipped the Tailwind to Mexico, South Africa, Guatemala, Germany, Greece, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Spain. In Asia we’ve shipped to Malaysia, Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, and South Korea just in the past two months. And the country we’ve shipped to the most? Japan, which has the highest stroke rate per capita in the world. Everywhere you find a developed country, you will find stroke survivors. This is usually because highly developed countries also have highly developed diets—lots of high-fat processed foods high in sodium, in large quantities. And where you find stroke survivors, you’ll find the Tailwind!

 

10 Years After….

Thursday, October 13th, 2011

Reading about the Afghan situation 10 years after US military involvement began got me
thinking about what I was doing 10 years ago and how much has changed, for me
and for the world. Ten years ago I was working at the National Security Agency,
in the Department of Defense, as a policy director and staff officer. I wrote
many intelligence reports about Afghanistan, and helped to create policies and
procedures that contributed to the US military effort there. I was definitely
thinking globally, but somewhat isolated working safely inside a large defense
facility.

But I longed to get outside of government, outside of my safe place, and I wanted
to start a business. I left the government and went to work for a technology
company, so I could learn more business skills before setting out on my own.
When I was ready to start my business, I looked to local universities to see
what technologies were available for licensing that I could develop and market.
I noticed a stroke rehabilitation device at the University of Maryland Medical
System that had been patented and clinically tested, but was not available for
sale, so I decided to take a closer look.

After about a year of doing market research, validating the patent, talking to stroke
survivors, and meeting with the device’s inventors, I decided to acquire the
rights to the device and manufacture it. In late 2006, Encore Path was formed
to build and sell the device, which was then called BATRAC, or bilateral arm
trainer with rhythmic auditory cueing. It would be almost 3 more years before
the device was on the market, but I had finally taken my leap into
entrepreneurship, outside of my global, but isolated, existence.

Tailwind Featured at Maryland Baby Boomer Expo

Friday, October 7th, 2011

We are here today at the Baby Boomer/Senior Expo at the Maryland State Fairgrounds. It’s a great place to meet seniors and show them the Tailwind for arm rehabilitation. By far the largest number of people having strokes are seniors, but increasingly younger and younger people are having them. The fastest growing age group for stroke is age 45-57! And we’re seeing plenty of younger stroke survivors today.

I’m also surprised by the number of people who are stopping by to say that they have a family member who has had a stroke. This shouldn’t surprise me, though, because according to the American Heart Association, 4 out of 5 American families will be affected by stroke. And nearly 85% of stroke survivors will experience some arm mobility issues. We developed the Tailwind for people with moderate to severe paralysis after stroke and want to improve their arm function and range of motion at home. We’re proud that we can help some of them get better arm movement with the Tailwind.

An expo like this is a great way to meet stroke survivors and their families, and to show them how the Tailwind works. We are based in Baltimore, but it’s hard to get all over the country to demonstrate the Tailwind. If you’re in the Baltimore area and want to come to the Baby Boomer Expo, please stop by and say hi!