Compliant Games respiratory therapy system turns video games into
healing devices for kids and elderly patients
MAPLE PLAIN, Minn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 18, 2015--
The developers of a respiratory therapy system that uses video games as
part of the system, and helps pediatric and nursing home patients comply
with respiratory therapy requirements, have been presented with the
latest Proto Labs Cool Idea! Award, a service grant given to innovative
companies by quick-turn manufacturer Proto Labs, Inc. (NYSE:PRLB).
This Smart News Release features multimedia. View the full release here:
http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20150818005224/en/
Proto Labs' latest Cool Idea! Award winner, Compliant Games, is developing a respiratory therapy system for children (and the elderly) that incorporates interactive gaming. (Photo: Business Wire)
Compliant Games is “channeling the healing power of children’s video
games,” say the developers, with a system that improves adherence to
respiratory therapies by patients who are at-risk of pulmonary
complications such as pneumonia. The system transforms common
respiratory therapy tools into low-cost telemetry (wireless transmission
and monitoring) instruments for doctors and their patients.
How does it work? The patient watches and follows along with a video
game exercise on an iPad or other computer tablet. When prompted, the
patient breathes through an air tube that wirelessly interacts with the
game. Active, in-game feedback reinforces correct technique for the
patient.
“This product will deliver a crucial service to clinicians and will help
patients,” says Proto Labs founder Larry Lukis. “The gaming system
provides a ‘fun component’ that motivates patients to effectively do
their required pulmonary exercises. And, what I really like about it:
The therapy tool reaches both young patients and seniors.”
In the past, clinicians reported that other respiratory therapy devices
and systems were ignored and rarely used by patients. This new system,
with the air tube and video game interacting wirelessly, solves this
problem, by “gamifying” an otherwise mundane but necessary task.
The Compliant Games respiratory therapy system is built around four
components: AirLane, a hardware adapter that works with the patient’s
respiratory device (air tube), the DragonKeeper video game that
interacts with the patient, ClinicBox cloud-based data storage and
analytics, and the AirRN mobile app for clinicians and caregivers.
Shane Luttrell, founder of Memphis-based Compliant Games, says
developers are using the Cool Idea! Award manufacturing grant for
various custom prototype parts such as injection-molded airway tubes and
other components. “Injection molded parts are actually a very big deal
for us,” Luttrell says, because parts that are molded from conventional
compliant resins using injection molding “are more likely to meet
regulatory requirements of institutional review boards than other
prototype processes.”
Compliant Games will begin clinical studies later this year. The first
study will assess whether its system increases patient compliance with
prescribed therapies. Other future studies will follow. Developers plan
to formally launch the product in Q2 of 2016.
Since 2011, the Cool Idea! Award has provided more than $1 million in
Proto Labs prototyping and short-run production services to
entrepreneurs developing new products in the United States and Europe.
Unlike other awards that recognize products after they’re in mass
production and on store shelves, the Cool Idea! Award is meant to help
innovative ideas come to life. For more information about the Cool Idea!
Award and to apply, visit protolabs.com/coolidea.
About Proto Labs
Proto Labs is the world's fastest digital
manufacturing source for custom prototypes and low-volume production
parts. The technology-enabled company uses advanced 3D printing, CNC
machining and injection molding technologies to produce parts within
days. The result is an unprecedented speed-to-market value for product
designers and engineers worldwide. Visit protolabs.com for more
information.
About Compliant Games
Compliant Games was founded by Shane
Luttrell after a conversation with a pediatric oncologist who lamented
that despite the effectiveness and safety of incentive spirometry in
preventing pneumonia, most of his patients rarely took them out of the
bag. Compliant Games plans to change that using a gaming platform
coupled with low-cost hardware/software to improve both the quality and
quantity of respiratory exercise. Luttrell has a history of medical
product development, working at Pfizer/ValleyLab as well as founding
HatchPoint, a product development company that spun out Compliant Games.
For more information, visit angel.co/compliant-games.
View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20150818005224/en/
Source: Proto Labs, Inc.
Proto Labs
Bill Dietrick, 763-479-7664
bill.dietrick@protolabs.com
or
Media
Contact:
Hotwire for Proto Labs
Ayla Richards,
646-561-8546
ayla.richards@hotwirepr.com