Abbott has launched an upgraded version of its NeuroSphere myPath digital health app with enhanced functionality that will help doctors more closely track their patients as they trial Abbott neurostimulation devices to address their chronic pain.

This upgrade is part of Abbott’s commitment to connected care technology and is intended to put people in control of their health and facilitate better communication with their doctors. The digital health app, which can be used with both Apple and Android devices, provides a doctor, their staff and the patient with a shared view of patient-reported outcome measures through each stage of the treatment journey while trying a spinal cord stimulation (SCS) or dorsal root ganglion (DRG) therapy device.

SCS and DRG therapy can help address chronic pain by interrupting the pain signals traveling along the spinal cord or the dorsal root ganglia, a cluster of nerves along the spine, before they can reach the brain. Abbott’s NeuroSphere myPath digital health app is designed to allow a person to track and report their pain relief and general well-being. In turn, it helps doctors understand where patients are in the journey, and how patients are responding to therapy to better inform their treatment plan, a major goal of Abbott’s connected care approach.

“With NeuroSphere myPath, I am able to connect with my patients virtually because I can hone in on the precise location where they are experiencing pain and understand whether they are receiving relief,” says Pankaj Mehta, MD, clinical president and chief medical officer at Pain Specialists of America in Austin, Texas. “Because the app is designed to provide a virtual environment in which I can connect with every patient and see where they are in the process, I can track how each person is doing, share critical data insights with my colleagues and help them take the next step in their pain-relief journey.”

The NeuroSphere myPath app allows people to closely track and document their pain through a series of surveys taken virtually at baseline and during the trial period through the app. People are asked questions to assess their pain intensity, about the relief and changes to physical function they experience, and their overall mood and well-being felt with and without the device throughout the treatment. At the end of the trial, doctors can receive a succinct yet comprehensive end-of-trial report.

The NeuroSphere myPath app is part of a family of apps Abbott has created under the Neurosphere name, including Neurosphere Virtual Clinic.  Neurosphere Virtual Clinic is a first-of-its-kind technology in the US, giving patients the flexibility and comfort of receiving care anywhere* by connecting with their doctor via secure in-app video chat and an integrated remote programming feature. It enables clinicians to prescribe new treatment settings remotely to the patient’s neurostimulation device using the clinician programmer app and a simple and secure remote care connection.

“Our continued advancement of the NeuroSphere myPath app is part of Abbott’s commitment to developing new connected health technology that has the potential to bridge the gap between people and their doctors,” says Pedro Malha, vice president, Neuromodulation, Abbott. “Both the myPath digital app and our NeuroSphere Virtual Clinic allow us to deliver a more personalized and proactive approach to how advanced diseases are managed that are changing how people access healthcare around the world.”

[Source(s): Abbott, PR Newswire]