The FDA approved a new smartphone app from Abbott allowing people to personalize their own neuromodulation therapies, including regimens for chronic pain and movement disorders such as Parkinson’s disease.
Compatible with Apple products, the devicemaker’s NeuroSphere Digital Care platform and its newly approved patient controller app are also designed to encourage more virtual connections with healthcare providers, and allow interactions to take place remotely in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic.
This includes supporting video chat conversations with care teams to guide changes. And by downloading the app, a person’s personal smartphone can eliminate the need for maintaining a separate programmer device.
“Patients are seeking digital options to better engage with their healthcare providers and manage their chronic conditions remotely—and this has never been more evident than in today’s pandemic where virtual care is necessary,” said Keith Boettiger, vice president of Abbott’s neuromodulation business.
The NeuroSphere management platform, first launched in May, is compatible with Abbott’s Infinity DBS system aimed at Parkinson’s and essential tremor, as well as the company’s Proclaim XR SCS and DRG devices for chronic pain.
“The approval of Abbott’s Patient Controller app with personalized access to therapy is a landmark event, as we are now able to provide patients a way to access personalized therapy from a compatible and secure iOS device so that people can live their lives and seamlessly manage conditions like chronic pain and movement disorders,” Boettiger said. The company said it plans to launch the app in the coming weeks.