A Birmingham-based firm which has developed a technology that helps improve how prosthetic legs are fitted has appointed a new chairman ahead of its US launch.
Stuart Mead鈥檚 appointment by Adapttech follows the decision聽by the United States Food and Drug Administration to聽approve聽its technology as 聽a Class I medical device.
Mead is the former CEO of Touch Bionics, the company that created the world鈥檚 first bionic hand, and has been appointed for his insight and leadership in the prosthetics sector.
The company鈥檚聽INSIGHT聽system, which has already undergone successful user testing in Europe, is now being used in an outcome study at two prosthetic clinics in the United States ahead of its commercial launch later this year.
Mead said:聽聽鈥淥ur technology is proven, we have the team in place to support it, and we are ready to transform the way that prostheses are fitted.
INSIGHT combines laser scanning, wearable technology and a mobile app to make it faster and easier to correctly fit lower-limb prosthesis and monitor a patient鈥檚 entire rehabilitation process.
The聽laser scanner聽creates a 3D model of the socket in less than 90 seconds; then the聽wearable聽device聽uses sensors to gather real-time data between the residual limb and the socket to pinpoint exactly where issues are occurring; finally the mobile app聽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.
Peter Dines, COO and head of life sciences and biosciences at Adapttech鈥檚 lead investor, Mercia Asset Management, said:聽鈥淎s the company moves into its commercialisation 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.鈥�
Adapttech鈥檚 founder聽Frederico Carpinteiro said:聽鈥淯sing INSIGHT, clinicians spend less time attending to patients with limb-socket problems; technicians spend less time fitting, assessing and refitting sockets; and patients spend less time visiting and re-visiting the clinic. INSIGHT has the potential to help prosthetic facilities improve their patients鈥� lower limb functional mobility scores, which can help them access better prostheses from their healthcare provider.鈥�
In 2018, the company closed a 鈧�2M investment round with Mercia Asset Management as lead investor and Hovione Capital as follow-on.