Cerebral palsy, also known as CP, is the most common childhood motor disability, affecting 2-3 children in 1,000 and approximately 764,000 people in the United States.
Caused by brain damage or abnormal brain development, CP affects the parts of the brain that are responsible for muscle movement. CP can cause difficulty with daily tasks like walking, maintaining posture, and using your hands.
There is no cure for CP, but assistive devices for cerebral palsy like Accelera’s SR-100 can dramatically improve movement and quality of life.
At Accelera, helping patients with CP move with confidence and freedom is central to our mission. We are a revolutionary rehabilitation technology company that has produced the world’s first stochastic resonance wearable medical device, the SR-100.
What Is Stochastic Resonance?
Stochastic resonance (SR) is a technology that uses white noise to enhance signal transmission.
Your body moves by responding to sensory signals in your environment. These signals tell you where your body is in relation to your brain, while also giving you information about the things around you.
With the information from these signals, you can execute effective movement with the correct speed, force, and direction. However, for those living with CP, these signals are often weak or unclear.
SR wearable medical devices create gentle, randomized vibrations to boost your body’s natural signals.
These vibrations engage the proprioceptors and sensorimotor system to move neurons in transmembrane potentials, the central nervous system’s messengers, closer to the threshold. From this position, it is much easier for a signal to trigger them.
How Can the SR-100 Serve as an Assistive Device for Cerebral Palsy?
In a study from Virginia Commonwealth University, Accelera’s SR-100 was found to improve ease, speed, and accuracy of movement for children with CP.
In this pilot clinical trial, researchers observed sixteen children between the ages of 3 and 16 who were diagnosed with cerebral palsy.
The children wore Accelera’s SR-100 bands on their wrists and arms and were asked to complete tasks with one hand (uni-manual tasks) or both of their hands (bi-manual tasks).
The conclusion showed that, compared to the control group, children wearing SR-100 bands displayed better hand performance.
Moving the placement of the SR-100 band can boost signals in different parts of the body. For example, when worn on the ankle, CP patients can have a much easier time walking independently.
For CP patients, Accelera’s SR-100 can improve:
- Ease of movement
- Movement speed
- Accuracy of movement
- Muscle tone
- Hand function
- Walking
- Balance
SR-100 wraps are comfortable and unobtrusive. A single wrap (or multiple wraps) can be worn daily to improve function for personal use, and the SR-100 can also be applied in clinical settings.
Accelera’s SR-100: The World’s First Wearable Assistive Device for Cerebral Palsy
Accelera founders Mike Wing and Karin Gregory are passionate about helping people with neurological deficits move with ease and confidence.
Because of their interest in the topic, they soon found out about groundbreaking work that Dr. Jim Collin’s of the Wyss Institute at Harvard University was doing in the SR field.
When they heard about the Wyss Institute’s research, Wing and Gregory knew they had to license the technology and found a premier rehabilitation technology company–Accelera–to meet the needs of this significant yet underserved population.
Thus, Accelera’s SR-100, the world’s first SR wearable medical device, was born.
The SR-100 wearable medical device consists of comfortable, wireless wraps controlled by a smartphone application. It creates white noise via gentle vibrations to boost natural sensory signals.
The SR-100 is a powerful assistive device for cerebral palsy, but it also has clinical and personal applications for issues related to muscle tone and spasticity, as well as a wide variety of neurological deficits, including those that come from:
- Stroke
- Brain injury
- Parkinson’s disease
- Diabetes
- Sensory, proprioceptive, and balance issues due to aging
- Post-chemo neuropathy
To discover how the SR-100 can help you, your loved ones or your patients move effectively and confidently, contact Accelera today.