Dive Brief:
- Kandu Health and Neurolutions have merged and raised $30 million to support stroke recovery and rehabilitation, the companies said Tuesday.
- The merger brings together Neurolutions’ brain computer interface technology and Kandu Health’s telehealth services to try to improve stroke patients’ outcomes after they leave hospital.
- Patients will have access to Neurolutions’ IpsiHand, a device that is cleared for use in the U.S. The system translates brain signals to enable stroke patients to open and close their hands.
Dive Insight:
Neurolutions received de novo authorization for IpsiHand in 2021. The system consists of a headset, a tablet computer and a device that the user wears over their hand and wrist. The headset records brain activity using non-invasive electroencephalography electrodes and sends the data wirelessly to the tablet for analysis. The tablet interprets the EEG data and sends a signal to move the hand brace.
By moving the patient’s hand based on their brain signals, the system is designed to help people improve their grasping as part of their recovery from stroke. The Food and Drug Administration authorized the system after all 40 patients in Neurolutions’ 12-week trial demonstrated motor function improvements.
Kandu Health was founded in 2022, and Neurolutions partnered with the company in 2023. The alliance positioned Kandu Health’s physicians to assess if stroke patients may benefit from IpsiHand.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services created a procedure code and made a benefit category determination for IpsiHand in 2024. Neurolutions completed the first sales of its device in early 2023, according to the CMS.
Kandu Health CEO Kirsten Carroll said in a statement that IpsiHand is the first BCI technology cleared by the FDA for stroke rehabilitation and the first to receive a CMS reimbursement code. The technology differs from BCI technologies in development at companies such as Synchron and Elon Musk’s Neuralink because it noninvasively captures brain signals. IpsiHand is worn on the head, not implanted in the brain.
The merger continues the integration of IpsiHand into Kandu Health’s stroke support services that began with the partnership in 2023. Operating as Kandu, the combined company will support patients from the immediate post-acute phase through chronic rehabilitation and recovery.
Kandu said 28% of people rate their quality of life as “poor or worse than death” one year after a stroke when treated under the current paradigm. The company wants to lower that figure by providing ongoing support that evolves as people recover, including by making IpsiHand available to eligible patients.
Ally Bridge Group and Amed Ventures co-led a $30 million investment to fund Kandu’s commercial strategy.
