AAL eHealth demonstration treatment for musculoskeletal pain in elderly patients

Call Information
Proposal Information
Copenhagen region (DK) is looking for an elderly care institution to join as partner in a small collaborative projects under the Active Assisted Living program: http://www.aal-europe.eu/call-challenge-2018/ with deadline the 28th of May. The company PaciniMedico will lead the project and the application writing. PaciniMedico is developing a new treatment for musculoskeletal pain, which is a huge problem among elderly people especially. There is quite a lot of clinical evidence, that stimulating the vagus nerve has a positive effect on musculoskeletal pain (see fx.: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4530716/), but existing treatments use electric impulses which is painful and have multiple other side effects. PaciniMedico is developing a treatment which uses high amplitude low frequency sound impulses to stimulate the vagus nerve. They have patented the treatment, and are gathering data on how well patients respond to this new type of therapy. The project is about getting patient feedback and working with end-user organisations to find out how and where treatments could be organized in the best way for the elderly. PaciniMedico already has an Italian end user organisation on board for the project (Ospedale San Martino in Genova), and we are looking for a care institution in the Netherlands or Belgium as the last partner (partners from Wallonia cannot get funding for this type of AAL-project).  A significant and increasing number of elderly people in EU suffers from musculoskeletal pain and direct and indirect cost for traditional treatment is a significant burden for society and individuals. HALF-MIS (High Amplitude Low Frequency – Music Impulse Stimulation) is a new, patented treatment modality invented by Danish neurologists in the fields of pain and depression. The HALF-MIS treatment is based on a physical device (a special designed chair) and an online management system to manage treatments. HALF-MIS utilizes music impulses (sound) to stimulate the abdominal system of Pacinian Corpuscles (vibration sensitive). This (abdominal) system generates a flow of signals through the Vagus Nerve to the brain. Vagus Nerve Stimulation (VNS) is a well-documented treatment for various conditions and VNS has been scientifically proven to be efficient in desperate cases of chronic pain, chronic depression and epilepsy. Today VNS treatment is done with electric impulses only and it is very unpleasant (and can even be dangerous) due to numerous side effects. PaciniMedico do NOT do VNS stimulation with electric impulses but ONLY sound impulses as described above. In HALF-MIS the VNS is evoked by the sound (impulses) alone. Thus, this VNS treatment has NO side effects at all. The efficacy of HALF-MIS is currently explored in a series of scientific clinical trials. The first paper released demonstrates a highly significant effect of this treatment in depression. We conclude that HALF-MIS is likely to deliver an effect on pain comparable to traditional electric impulses VNS. It will be a part of the development project to secure the scientific evidence. Small collaborative AAL-projects have a duration of only 6 months, but still have to involve 3 countries. Funding is typically 300.000 EUR split evenly among the three countries with co-funding percentage depending on type of partner. Interested organisations should contact me via e-mail: ram@cphoffice.eu as soon as possible.
Deadline for Expression of Interest