A Chicago-based medical tech company is developing a device to help people who struggle maintaining their balance, but the device has a way to go before entering the market.
Founded in Columbia, Missouri, in 2011, the now Chicago-based Innervo Technology has created EquiCue, a retainer-like device and accompanying wristband that monitors patients’ head positions to help them maintain their balance. After receiving $150,000 in 2012 and $760,000 in 2015 from the National Science Foundation, the startup is looking to staff up and raise funding to continue testing its device to obtain FDA approval.
Hui Tang, founder and president of Innervo Technology, holds a Ph.D. in electrical engineering from the University of Illinois, and earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in electrical engineering from the University of Science and Technology of China before moving to the U.S.
Tang created the EquiCue device and now runs the company out of Chicago's MATTER incubator. With EquiCue, patients can place the oral retainer-like device into their mouths to monitor and adjust their head position to find their physical balance.
The oral device will send mild pulses, or signals, to alert the patient when their head is off balance. The wristband allows patients to control the intensity of the pulses; earlier versions of the prototype had buttons in the mouth, Tang said. The device could help patients who are losing their balance as a result of aging, migraines or brain injuries, Tang said.
“For the commercialization part, I wanted to go to an [different] environment,” Tang said. “I thought Chicago would be a good place to go. It has a lot more people [for] a startup. You can’t just rely on yourself.”
Tang has also been working to build relationships with local medical facilities, including the Shirley Ryan Ability Lab. A spokesperson for the lab had heard about Innervo Technology through its work at MATTER and found its technology interesting, but the lab is not engaged in a formal partnership with the company. In January, the company also submitted a proposal to the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research to obtain funding for a pilot study, he added.
So far, the company has conducted preliminary testing of its device but needs two clinical trials to obtain FDA approval, Tang said, adding that additional testing would take more time and money.
“[With] only the technology, that’s not good enough for investors. They look for someone else to back you up,” Tang said. “The hospital will be a very important partner for that.”
