A Chrono Therapeutics trial has shown that nicotine replacement therapy delivered by wearables can significantly reduce cravings.
The wearable, which is connected to a smartphone to aid people in stopping smoking, delivers the nicotine replacement therapy similarly to nicotine patches. However, instead of delivering this is a gradual timed release – as is the case in most therapy – the drug is delivered in accordance with the user’s cravings.
The drug is first delivered when cravings are most likely – first thing in the morning and before meals. A companion smartphone app provides coaching to aid users in dealing with cravings, and this is also delivered at times coordinated with cravings.
Alan Levy, CEO of Chrono, told MobiHealthNews: “One of the major problems with all of these [patch] products is very poor adherence. With our product, it’s the only product where we can measure whether they’re actually using the product. With us, there’s a sensor and we know if they’re using it and we can provide real time reminders.”
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Wearables explored in all industries
Chrono has received over £22 million funding from Canaan Partners, 5 am Ventures, Fountain Healthcare Partners, Rock Health, GE Ventures and the Mayo Clinic; as well as just over £3 million in NIH grants to fund research.
Chrono is awaiting FDA approval, and predicts the product will be cleared by the end of 2018, when they plan to sell the therapy at around £350 for a 10-week course. They also plan to conduct a two-week trial, pitting the device against nicotine patches and gums.
If the product is successful, Chrono may explore similar uses for the product in Parkinson’s disease and opioid addiction.
Levy also said: “It is an epidemic. More people are dying from opioid overdose than automobile accidents and there is currently no FDA-approved approach to weaning people off of opioids, the way our system weans people off of nicotine.”
The use of wearables is currently being explored in a number of industries, not least in manufacturing where devices like Google’s Glass can enable engineers to pull-up and document relevant information while keeping their hands free to get on with the job at hand.
Wearables was also a huge theme of the recent Mobile World Congress, where the likes of Epson and others were showing off their latest Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality devices.
Taking place in London on the 21st-22nd September, the Internet of Healthcare will examine how IoT is supporting clinicians to improve efficiency and raise the quality of care.
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