Intellirod Spine Launches iLink Wearable Sensor

Surgeons prescribing spinal braces for trauma, post spine surgery or back pain are often wondering whether their patients are using them as prescribed. The same goes for patients who are prescribed pediatric scoliosis braces, which should be worn for 14 or more hours per day to be effective. Intellirod Spine is today announcing the launch of iLink, designed to provide objective data on wearing compliance. iLink is a Bluetooth-enabled sensor module that can be attached to any brace, orthotic or prosthetic to measure wearing compliance, upright posture time and mobility daily through a free smartphone app.
 
Hourly data are transmitted once a day to the cloud for remote access by physicians through a secure web portal. A dashboard identifies non-compliant patients at a glance and enables patient feedback without the need for a visit. Research has shown that scoliosis braces worn 14 or more hours per day have a significantly greater success rate of avoiding surgery than those worn 12 hours or less.
 
“Parents can load the app on their phone and track their child’s wearing time daily. We normally see these patients every three to six months and we lose that treatment time if our patient is non-compliant,” says Dr. Randy Puno, spine surgeon at Norton Leatherman Spine Center.
 
“For the post-spine surgery patient, getting them up and moving is so important to their successful outcomes and in avoiding complications,” said Dr. Chris Karas, neurosurgeon at OhioHealth. “That’s why we asked Intellirod to also detect upright posture time and mobility, so we have actionable data for improving outcomes.”
 
According to Intellirod CEO Ric Navarro, “We’re taking today’s orthotics and turning them into tomorrow’s ‘smart’ orthotics, enabling the patients, orthotists and clinicians to take charge of the data and information provided by iLink to improve outcomes. And with new remote patient monitoring CPT codes for 2019, the payers are finally incentivizing this more cost-efficient means of patient care.”
 
Intellirod signed an IP license with The Nemours Foundation/Alfred I. DuPont Hospital for Children. Drs. Tariq Rahman (Principal Research Scientist) and Richard Bowen (Orthopedic Surgeon, Former Chair Department of Pediatric Orthopaedics) are working with Intellirod to further validate and commercialize this technology.