A clinician collects data from the socket using the INSIGHT app. Photograph courtesy of Adapttech.
Biomedical startup Adapttech, Birmingham, England, announced that it has appointed Stuart Mead as chairman ahead of the company’s launch in the United States later this year. Mead is the former CEO of Touch Bionics, Livingston, Scotland, and has been appointed for his insight and leadership in the prosthetics sector. Touch Bionics was acquired by Össur, Reykjavik, Iceland, in 2016.
Adapttech has also announced that its technology for improving the fitting of lower limb prostheses has been granted a decision as a Class I medical device by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The company’s INSIGHT system has already undergone user testing in Europe, where it was demonstrated to reduce the time taken for fitting and patient evaluation when fitting residual limb sockets. It is now being used in an outcome study at two prosthetic clinics in the US ahead of its commercial launch later this year.
INSIGHT combines laser scanning, wearable technology, and a mobile app to make it faster and easier to correctly fit lower-limb prostheses and monitor a patient’s entire rehabilitation process. The laser scanner creates a 3D model of the socket in less than 90 seconds; the wearable device uses sensors to gather real-time data between the residual limb and the socket to pinpoint exactly where issues are occurring, and; the mobile app shows the clinician where issues are occurring in the 3D model, and also allows results to be registered and assessed at any time and in any place.
“We are delighted to welcome Stuart to the Adapttech team,” said Peter Dines, COO and head of life sciences and biosciences at Adapttech’s lead investor, Mercia Asset Management, Birmingham, England. “As the company moves into its commercialization phase, we wanted to find a business leader with specific expertise in the prosthetics sector, and there are very few people in the world who are as well-qualified as Stuart for this role.”
