Biofeedback Provides More Than Just Rehabilitative Therapy

Founded in 1974, Thought Technology Ltd, Montreal, was designed to devise instrumentation for stroke rehabilitation and other medical conditions. Then founders Lawrence Klein and Hal Myers, both sports enthusiasts, realized their technology—biofeedback—could also be applied to athletics.

For months prior to the most recent World Cup games, four Italian national team soccer players took advantage of Thought Technology's equipment—namely the ProComp device, which measures brain waves, muscle tension, breathing, and heart rate—to help mentally prepare themselves for moments under intense pressure during the tournament in Germany—which the Italian team won after defeating France 5-3 in penalty kicks. Alberto Gilardino, Alessandro Nesta, Andrea Pirlo, and Gennaro Gattuso were trained by Bruno De Michelis, the head of sport science for the team AC Milan, to focus and concentrate on their peak performance, Klein told The (Montreal) Gazette.

Biofeedback, a learning process in which people are taught to improve their health and performance by observing signals generated by their own bodies, is a scientifically based and validated technology, according to the company's Web site. Biofeedback describes laboratory procedures that trained research subjects to alter their brain activity, blood pressure, muscle tension, heart rate, and other physiological responses thought to have been beyond voluntary control. Physical changes associated with biofeedback include relaxation and improved motor control.

Biofeedback, a noninvasive therapy, uses sensors to provide readings to a meter or computer for the patient to see. For example, the electromyogram (EMG) picks up electrical signals from the muscles. It translates the signals into a detectable form, such as a beep or flashing light, every time the muscles increase in tension. The goal is to eliminate the beeping or flashing by relaxing the tense muscles.

"These devices are just tools to train better mentally," De Michelis told The Gazette. "Integrated training gives you the capacity to recover through relaxation, to practice better, to concentrate better, and to visualize in order to improve your skills."

Spectrum Products Sells Portion of Business to In The Swim

Spectrum Products, Missoula, Mont, has sold the Spectrum Aquatics catalog and Web site distribution business to In The Swim, effective July 10, 2006.

Spectrum Products will continue to provide a full line of manufactured products through its direct and distribution channels, as well as a wide assortment of equipment and supplies required for the operation and maintenance of aquatic facilities through In The Swim.

Routing and Dispatching Module on Display at Medtrade

FASTRACK Healthcare Systems Inc, Plainview, NY, will demonstrate a new stand-alone version of its Routing and Dispatching Module that can be integrated with nearly any HME, infusion pharmacy, or home care software applications at Medtrade this fall.

The Fastrack Routing module analyzes the deliveries for the day, calculates the most efficient driving route, provides drivers with turn-by-turn directions/maps, and is designed to reduce fuel costs and minimize overtime, according to the company.

"Based on demand that started at last year's Medtrade show, Fastrack is now making this module available to non-Fastrack clients," says Fastrack President Spencer Kay. "Providers utilizing other applications, such as Computers Unlimited, Mestamed, Dezine, etc, can now take advantage of Fastrack's technology offerings."

Using cellular PDAs with integrated bar-code technology, delivery personnel can capture delivery information at the patient's home, including products, quantities, serial and lot numbers, patient's signature, COD amounts, and the reason for any refused items. Upon completion of the delivery, an order confirmation is sent to the provider's computer in real time, allowing for the immediate billing of the order. A pushpin indicates on a map in the office that the stop has been completed, allowing office staff to locate the driver closest to a new or emergency stop. For more information, contact (800) 520-2325; www.onlyfastrack.com.

CMS Approves Add-on
Payment for X STOP

St. Francis Medical Technologies Inc®, San Francisco, has been approved by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), Baltimore, for a special add-on payment for hospitals that offer surgery using the patented X STOP® Interspinous Process Decompression (IPD®) System. This is only the third medical device company since 2000 to receive CMS approval for a new add-on payment, and the only device to receive approval this year, according to the company. This new provision will allow more patient access to the procedure.

The supplemental payments are intended to provide additional funding for new technologies that meet a cost threshold and demonstrate a substantial clinical improvement over existing treatment options. CMS has awarded the X STOP with a maximum add-on payment of $4,400 per case, providing Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries with greater access to a minimally invasive, lower risk surgical alternative to treat lumbar spinal stenosis (LSS), a degenerative disease experienced mainly by the middle-aged and elderly population. This is a payment policy decision applicable nationwide.

The X STOP is a titanium alloy implant that was approved by the FDA in November 2005 as a nonfusion treatment for patients with LSS. X STOP fills a gap in the continuum of care for LSS sufferers that previously required patients to go from conservative therapies like analgesics and injections, to laminectomy, an invasive procedure that is considered the current surgical standard of care, the company says.

The X STOP is inserted through a small incision and is placed between the spinous processes in the low back. The device is designed to limit extension of the lumbar spine, and keep open the canal in the lower spine that carries nerves to the legs.