Medical Design and Outsourcing

  • Home
  • Medical Device Business
    • Mergers & Acquisitions
    • Financial
    • Regulatory
  • Applications
    • Cardiovascular
    • Devices
    • Imaging
    • Implantables
    • Medical Equipment
    • Orthopedic
    • Surgical
  • Technologies
    • Contract Manufacturing
    • Components
    • Electronics
    • Extrusions
    • Materials
    • Motion Control
    • Prototyping
    • Pumps
    • Tubing
  • Med Tech Resources
    • DeviceTalks Tuesdays
    • Digital Editions
    • eBooks
    • Manufacturer Search
    • Medical Device Handbook
    • MedTech 100 Index
    • Podcasts
    • Print Subscription
    • The Big 100
    • Webinars / Digital Events
    • Whitepapers
    • Video
  • 2022 Leadership in MedTech
    • 2022 Leadership Voting!
    • 2021 Winners
    • 2020 Winners
  • Women in Medtech

RxFunction launches sensory prosthesis for people with peripheral neuropathy

June 12, 2019 By Nancy Crotti

RxFunction’s Walkasins (Image from RxFunction)

RxFunction (Eden Prairie, Minn.) today announced the market launch of Walkasins, its wearable, lower-limb sensory neuroprosthesis designed to improve balance and gait in patients with sensory peripheral neuropathy.

The announcement came at the American Physical Therapy Association NEXT 2019 Conference in Chicago.

RxFunction said it will initially offer Walkasins within the Veterans Administration, which has a large number of veterans with peripheral neuropathy. Walkasins have two components – a leg unit and a foot pad. The insoles measure the user’s foot pressure and give immediate gentle and tactile sensory cues so that they can control balance and stability, according to the company.

The company recently released the results of a randomized cross-over study of 31 male veterans aged 56-84 who lack sensation in their feet. Most had fallen within the previous six months. At the end of two treatment sessions, 16 of the men had improved their functional gait assessment score to normal fall-risk status. The study also found that the sensory balance information provided by Walkasins more than doubled the likelihood of improving clinically measurable balance. The study was conducted in collaboration with the Center for Veterans Research and Education under a grant from the National Institute of Health (NIH). Results were published recently in the journal PLOS One.

“The completion of product development and the move to market launch and production is an exciting and historic moment for our company,” RxFunction CEO Tom Morizio said in a news release. “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.

“I am incredibly pleased to see the technology that we’ve been researching and developing for many years reach completion and move into production,” added Lars Oddsson, co-inventor of Walkasins and co-founder of RxFunction. “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.

Related Articles Read More >

A portrait of Zimmer Biomet CEO Bryan Hanson
Zimmer Biomet narrowly avoids shareholder rebuke on executive pay
A portrait of Britt Meelby Jensen, the new CEO of Ambu
Ambu replaces CEO with new leadership
AdvaMed
AdvaMed joins Biden’s Joint Supply Chain Resilience Working Group
A photo of former FDA official Bakul Patel
Google Health hires FDA’s chief digital health officer

DeviceTalks Weekly.

May 20, 2022
DeviceTalks Boston Post-Game – Editors’ Top Moments, Insulet’s Eric Benjamin on future of Omnipod 5
See More >

MDO Digital Edition

Digital Edition

Subscribe to Medical Design & Outsourcing. Bookmark, share and interact with the leading medical design engineering magazine today.

MEDTECH 100 INDEX

Medtech 100 logo
Market Summary > Current Price
The MedTech 100 is a financial index calculated using the BIG100 companies covered in Medical Design and Outsourcing.
DeviceTalks

DeviceTalks is a conversation among medical technology leaders. It's events, podcasts, webinars and one-on-one exchanges of ideas & insights.

DeviceTalks

New MedTech Resource

Medical Tubing

Enewsletter Subscriptions

Enewsletter Subscriptions

MassDevice

Mass Device

The Medical Device Business Journal. MassDevice is the leading medical device news business journal telling the stories of the devices that save lives.

Visit Website
MDO ad
Medical Design and Outsourcing
  • MassDevice
  • DeviceTalks
  • MedTech 100 Index
  • Medical Tubing + Extrusion
  • Drug Delivery Business News
  • Drug Discovery & Development
  • Pharmaceutical Processing World
  • R&D World
  • About Us/Contact
  • Advertise With Us
  • Subscribe to Print Magazine
  • Subscribe to E-newsletter
  • Attend our Monthly Webinars
  • Listen to our Weekly Podcasts
  • Join our DeviceTalks Tuesdays Discussion

Copyright © 2022 WTWH Media, LLC. All Rights Reserved. Site Map | Privacy Policy | RSS

Search Medical Design & Outsourcing

  • Home
  • Medical Device Business
    • Mergers & Acquisitions
    • Financial
    • Regulatory
  • Applications
    • Cardiovascular
    • Devices
    • Imaging
    • Implantables
    • Medical Equipment
    • Orthopedic
    • Surgical
  • Technologies
    • Contract Manufacturing
    • Components
    • Electronics
    • Extrusions
    • Materials
    • Motion Control
    • Prototyping
    • Pumps
    • Tubing
  • Med Tech Resources
    • DeviceTalks Tuesdays
    • Digital Editions
    • eBooks
    • Manufacturer Search
    • Medical Device Handbook
    • MedTech 100 Index
    • Podcasts
    • Print Subscription
    • The Big 100
    • Webinars / Digital Events
    • Whitepapers
    • Video
  • 2022 Leadership in MedTech
    • 2022 Leadership Voting!
    • 2021 Winners
    • 2020 Winners
  • Women in Medtech