INNOVATIVE IDEA: REDO - NEUROSYSTEMS HAS DEVELOPED A NEW TREATMENT FOR CHRONIC PAIN
Published 21st of February, 2023 by Nathalie Hentze Nielsen, MyAalborg
Read the original version in Danish here
Most of us know someone with chronic pain.
In fact, just over one in four Danes - age of 16 and over - have chronic pain, and according to the Danish Health Authority, that number has been increasing over the past 20 years.
It is thus a national – and global – problem that has a major impact on people's daily lives, and since there is no evidence-based treatment at present, people end up going from clinic to clinic without finding a solution to the problem.
REDO – Neurosystems, an Aalborg-based medtech start-up, has developed an alternative so that patients can relieve the pain through mental rehabilitation.
Chronic pain occurs when the brain becomes oversensitized after a long period of pain and begins to interpret pain signals as more violent than they really are. As a result, the patient is in more pain than they should be, and in some cases feel pain even though the injury has completely healed.
REDO - Neurosystems'S treatment is innovative because it takes care of the problem itself, the oversensitive pain response in the brain, and can therefore help with effective pain relief. A treatment they have chosen to call RELEARN.
This ground-breaking idea is based on several years of research from Aalborg University, and RELEARN makes it possible for patients with chronic pain to train their brain's pain response back to a healthy response.
"We will offer the first evidence-based treatment for patients with chronic muscle and joint pain without the use of medication or surgery by changing how the brain interprets pain," says Mathis Sørensen, COO and co-founder of the company.
The team behind REDO - Neurosystems
Creates healthy responses to pain
The technology was developed at Aalborg University, where Morten Kirkegaard was part of the research group when he wrote a thesis on the technology during his master's degree in Translational Medicine.
After promising results, he was asked by Aalborg University if he had a desire to bring the technology out into the real world.
After this, co-owners Mathis Rosenborg Sørensen and Tor Emanuelsen came on board because they also saw great potential in this way of treating chronic pain.
But the power of thought, software, mental rehabilitation…
It may all sound a bit vague, so how exactly does it work?
“The patient receives the treatment over eight sessions spanning three weeks, where they are given a helmet on their head which measures brain activity in connection with a painful movement.
This feedback is visualized on a screen, which allows the patient to see how the brain responds to pain.
The information gives the patient the tools to train the brain so that it restores a healthy and normal pain response," explains Mathis Rosenberg Sørensen.
The RELEARN software makes it possible to measure pain-related brain activity through classic EEG and EMG equipment.
Clinical trial on the way
The plan is for the treatment to go to the country's physiotherapists and pain clinics, where patients can learn to control the pain while receiving physical rehabilitation. For it to become a reality, the form of treatment must go through a clinical study, so that it is approved as an evidence-based treatment according to EU legislation. REDO will then be able to report on the results of the effect of the treatment.
The clinical study has been rolled out in collaboration with the Center for Clinical Research at Hjørring Hospital, Regionshospitalet Nordjylland.
They are currently looking for knee patients with osteoarthritis aged 18 to 65 to participate in the study.
The project is i.a. supported by the European Fund for Regional Development, but also the Innovation Fund, Erhvervshus Nordjylland and Vækstfonden have co-financed the journey.
"We started in 2019, and we are still here because we believe that we can make a difference for many Danes," says Mathis Rosenberg Sørensen.
He adds that if all goes well, they expect to already have usable results in October 2023, which could lead to a CE approval and thus rollout on the market.
Read more about REDO - Neurosystems here.
