Mindmaze‘s latest product, Izar, presents an opportunity for clinics to address the unmet or underserved need for hand recovery. It achieves this by enabling the provision of new in-clinic or remotely supervised self-training programs that can enhance the quality and quantity of training received by patients in their homes.
Izar is a highly sensitive controller that has been designed from the ground up to assess and train dexterity and strength by capturing the precise grasp forces and wrist movements required for everyday activities. The device can detect even the slightest finger and hand forces at sub-newton levels, making it suitable for treating even the most severely impaired patients.
The Izar controller is a portable and user-friendly device that comes with engaging gaming content, enabling patients to undertake self-training exercises in their homes, at the bedside or in clinics. The device offers considerable training improvements and is part of a broader approach to treating and managing neurological conditions such as Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, stroke, and traumatic brain injury (TBI), among other conditions.
Pioneering clinical research and expansion in Europe and the US
Leading global centers such as Shirley Ryan Ability Lab in the US, University College London in the United Kingdom, and The University of Aukland in New Zealand are already actively using Izar in pioneering clinical research. Izar was subjected to rigorous pre-launch testing across nine sites and delivered over 250 hours of active supervised and self-training therapy time in 250 patients, receiving unanimously positive feedback.
Izar is available today in the US and European countries, including France, Switzerland and Germany with content that enables training in dexterous grasp, pinch and grip. Future software content will unlock training content for the wrist, bilateral movements, and combination movements of the upper limb and hand, as well as dexterity assessments for the hand and wrist.
Founded in 2012 as an EPFL spin-off and having received the support of Hollywood actor Leonardo DiCaprio, MindMaze became the first Swiss Unicorn with offices in Lausanne, Baltimore, London, Paris and Mumbai. The biotech currently employs 140 people, 80 of them in its Lausanne offices.
