Millions of people live with essential tremor (ET) or Parkinson's disease. The effects of these tremors are debilitating, interfering with quality of life, and the ability to undertake everyday activities that many take for granted. Treatment options have historically been medications or even surgery. The Cala kIQ System is a sleek, empowering, accessibly-designed wearable that delivers powerful, non-pharmacologic, and non-invasive Transcutaneous Afferent Patterned Stimulation (TAPS) therapy on demand, to radically reduce tremors and improve daily living. It's the only FDA-approved device of its kind.

Design Innovation

The idea behind Cala kIQ was to create an empowering, accessible, and non-stigmatizing wearable device for patients living with essential tremor or Parkinson's disease, administering effective, at-home and on-demand treatment in a way that fits seamlessly with everyday life. From packaging, application, usability, and charging, the Cala kIQ is carefully designed to be completely accessible, stylish, and comfortable enough to wear on the wrist all day whilst delivering clinically proven medical treatment and actionable insights for the patient and clinicians managing the treatment plan.

The Cala kIQ merges innovations in neuroscience and technology to deliver a completely bespoke therapy for patients. The brain is the control center for action hand tremors. The device measures each patient's unique tremor physiology and individualizes a nerve stimulation pattern for tremor relief. TAPS therapy is delivered non-invasively through the nerves on the wrist to the brain to counteract the tremor. The functionality of the treatment administered as a wearable makes this a convenient intervention. Cala kIQ tackles the tremors so that everyday life tasks can resume.

Benefit to User and Client/Brand

The Cala kIQ has made a difference to many people's lives. Patients with Parkinson's disease and ET have more control over the involuntary movements caused by their condition. They can cut vegetables, hold a book, or eat and drink without spills. Following three months of repeated home use in 205 patients, 9 out of 10 experienced tremor reduction following a complete 40-minute treatment session with the majority maintaining relief lasting for over an hour after therapy. Where tremors also impacted mental health, discouraging people from doing what they love, Cala kIQ has given people the ability to live fully again.

Cala Health is a US-based medical device manufacturer whose mission is to free people from the burden of chronic disease, empowering them to live their lives with confidence and ease. While Cala Health had a broad vision and technical expertise to create a wearable device that could deliver non-invasive therapy to ET and Parkinson's disease patients, they needed a partner to help design a consumer-focused product experience. They turned to our team to develop the industrial design for the wearable, relying on our expertise and track record in wearable medtech to seamlessly blend comfort, functionality, usability, and aesthetics. The challenge was not just to create a wearable device but also develop a product that could deliver the proper treatment while being discreet enough to fit into patients' lifestyles without feeling or looking like a medical device.

Benefit to Society

It's estimated that approximately seven million people in the US have ET and up to a million people suffer from Parkinson's disease, another tremor disorder (Source). Treatment options for these conditions have historically been medications that often have adverse side effects or even surgery, meaning there was a gap in the market for a non-invasive option. Cala kIQ is the only FDA-cleared, clinically validated non-invasive device for the relief of hand tremors and is completely reshaping the delivery of prescription therapies for the treatment of chronic disease.

Aesthetics

The Cala kIQ is a physician-prescribed medical device but the design needed to be as stylish as any of the coveted wearables on the market. Its form is sleek and minimalistic, the interface large with tactile buttons for accessibility. Cala kIQ uses special dry electrodes to deliver the treatment which, unlike adhesive gel electrodes, are comfortable, can be worn repeatedly, and do not leave a messy residue after removing them. The result is a first-of-a-kind wrist-worn device that is discrete and designed to fit into a patient's lifestyle. A simple magnetic charging base station removes the need for cumbersome wires.