Neurostim Tech Leads the Charge at CES

With 4,500 exhibiting companies and over 180,000 attendees, the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) is considered to be the world’s gathering place for consumer technology businesses and enthusiasts. The forum has been a proving ground of sorts for 50 years—a global stage where next-generation technologies are introduced to the market.

And as healthcare costs in the U.S. soar inexorably upward, CES has also become a setting for devices that allow consumers to become more proactive in their health without breaking the bank. Health technologies have comprised a significant portion of the show for years, and the amount of consumer health technologies making their debut or being showcased have increased dramatically in recent years. And this year, devices that operate using therapeutic neurostimulation made a strong showing in Las Vegas.

For example, Tivic Health’s ClearUP Sinus Pain Relief is a bioelectric treatment for sinus pain brought on by allergic rhinitis, more commonly known as hay fever. The over-the-counter, handheld device achieved FDA 510(k) clearance the week before CES began, and received two awards at this year’s event—the Best of CES from Gear Diary and Top Picks of CES from Techlicious.

The simple, non-invasive, drug-free option relieved three of four patients’ sinus pain in just five minutes during its pivotal trial to obtain the FDA nod. Users need only glide ClearUP along the cheek, nose, and brow bone to apply low current electrical waveforms that stimulate the nerves under the skin to help relieve sinus pain.

“There were a number of CES attendees suffering from allergies who administered a full treatment,” commented Subinoy Das, M.D., and CEO, U.S. Institute for Advanced Sinus Care and Research. “As a clinician, I was pleased to see immediate results in improving breathing and relieving their sinus pain in just five minutes.”

Right now ClearUP is only intended for adults and can be used when needed up to four times a day. It’s reusable and rechargeable, making the device accessible at work, home, or while traveling. The device is a welcome change for sinus sufferers concerned about taking sinus medicine and its side effects—according to Tivic Health’s survey of 600 sinus pain patients, 95 percent wished to reduce the number of medications they were taking, and 91 percent were concerned about the side effects of their current treatments.

InControl Medical’s Attain device targets the approximately 87 million people in the U.S. struggling with stress, urge, or mixed urinary incontinence and/or bowel incontinence. Products to treat incontinence are not something that generally excites the average consumer, but InControl was certainly enthusiastic about showing off its device, which the company claims is the most advanced incontinence control device that is available over the counter. Attain applies electrical stimulation at specific frequencies in an alternating manner to boost pelvic floor muscle strength. The full, deep pelvic floor muscle contraction Attain provokes is a form of neuromuscular retraining.

This treatment is supplemented by visual biofeedback. Attain generates a lighted biofeedback graph, encouraging users to contract their pelvic floor muscles slowly, maintain the lights, and release at the end of the timer. Visual cues guide the patient through a series of variable timed, voluntary contractions along with a relaxation phase, much like a physical therapy session.

Attain’s probe is customizable as well. When inflated to the “comfortably snug” setting, the stimulation contacts are in full contact with the vaginal or rectal wall. The probe provides active resistance for pelvic floor muscles to contract against, then repositions the musculature between contractions, avoiding the problems of a tonic contraction.

“Attain provides muscle stimulation, visual biofeedback, and a guided exercise program to solve incontinence at the source—the muscle level,” said Herschel “Buzz” Peddicord, InControl’s founder and CEO. “Attain’s regular self-treatment program, in the privacy of one’s home, eliminates the need for pads, meds, surgery, or diapers.”

FDA clearance for Attain is currently pending.

Oska Wellness’ Pulse drug-free pain relief device addresses the growing chronic pain and subsequent opioid abuse epidemic problem in the U.S. Oska Pulse has been clinically proven to reduce inflammation, increase circulation, improve mobility, and alleviate pain, thanks to pulsed electromagnetic field (PEMF) technology. PEMF therapy helps the body reduce and recover from inflammation at the cellular level. As Oska Wellness describes it, “PEMF restores the positive and negative charges in the cell, enabling it to perform its natural function while speeding tissue recovery.”

“Chronic pain disrupts the lives of over 100 million Americans daily and is the leading cause of long-term disability in the U.S., affecting more people than diabetes, heart disease, and cancer combined,” said Oska Wellness founder Greg Houlgate. “It’s very clear that the United States is fighting a battle with pain. Oska Pulse addresses this issue at the source and brings affordable, drug-free pain relief to those who need it most.”

Oska Pulse is wearable, portable, and shareable and can fit into virtually any lifestyle. PEMF technology is already used in doctors’ offices worldwide and has been demonstrated in thousands of clinical studies to effectively relieve pain, but Oska Pulse is the first device to be available at an accessible price for home use.