Chief Medical Officer Discusses Revolutionary Therapy For Nausea & Morning Sickness At Consumer Electronics Show
Like most technology, all enhancements point to ease or quality of life, especially when it comes to health. However with something like the recent over –the-counter medical structure of Reliefband, something that usually is controlled by a pill can be served by electrical impulse: the aspect of motion sickness and nausea that can debilitate anyone anywhere. Jackie Simon, Chief Medical Officer for Reliefband Technologies, sat down with The Buzz at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Nevada to discuss a hidden technology available to the masses and the neuroscience and research that fuels it.
The Buzz: Could you talk a little bit about your background in approaching this kind of medical technology?
JS: So I'm a Bachelors Of Science, Registered Nurse. For the past 25, 30 years now I have worked with patients in all sorts of settings. I've worked in the ER. I've worked in home healthcare. I've worked in a school system, and I've also worked in the pharmaceutical industry. So I've had a lot of experience, hands on, with patients who suffer from nausea and vomiting.
The Buzz: Could you talk about Reliefband itself because basically, it encapsulates all the things that you've been involved with. It involves education, making sure people know how to use the technology, but it also involves practical application Can you talk about these elements from those various stand points? You can go into each one individually as far as the importance like education but also practical health, hospice, all these kind of things.
JS: So there are a significant number of people that suffer nausea, vomiting related to both motion and morning sickness. Roughly, there are about 60 million chronic sufferers, and people don't necessarily want to take drugs to treat this because most cases there are side effects, mostly causing drowsiness, which prevents people from being able to enjoy their activities.
The Buzz: Or drive, for that matter…especially if we are taking about RVs.
JS: Yes. And we have a lot of people who suffer from car sickness. We have people who can't go on a cruise because they suffer from the motion sickness. We have people that suffer from…they can't get in the back of a taxi. They won't fly on planes. They won't travel on trains. So it severely impacts people's lives because of the nausea. So our relief band, on the other hand, is an FDA-cleared medical device which actually delivers…it's neurowave technology. It delivers an impulse that goes through your nervous system up your median nerve to the vomiting center located in your brain. This technology was actually introduced about 17 years ago, originally as a prescription-only product where doctors would prescribe it to their chemotherapy and post-operative patients in a hospital setting. About a year and a half ago we took Relief Band over the counter. So it is now FDA-cleared to be used for people that suffer from motion sickness, as well as morning sickness indicated for pregnant women.
The Buzz: So with pregnancy?
JS: Yes. So it's been highly successful. It is changing people's lives.
The Buzz: Now before it was only available by prescription but has the technology now made it easier for it be able to go over the counter.
JS: The technology is actually the same original technology. But this is a proprietary pulse that was developed 17 years ago. There was a lot of research and development that went into it which is why doctors still use it today. People don't want to ingest drugs. So it's been clinically proven.
The Buzz: Our specific demographic is older retirees and pre-retirees - who are RVing, who are out in the wilderness, who are camping. So it's not like you have to be hooked up to a GPS to do anything with this. It's just simply, if you feel that way, you turn it on and it'll send a pulse.
JS: It will start delivering the therapy immediately and you will get relief within minutes. And you control it. There’s actually an intensity setting. You can adjust the intensity up or down, it's just two buttons. You turn it on, you turn it off, and you adjust your intensity level. It's also rechargeable. And for those who are severely nauseous, when the battery's running low and you don't want to take it off, you can actually still receive the therapy. You keep it on while it's charging.
The Buzz: Since you've worked in hospice and other areas, how does it feel?
JS: It’s actually quite comfortable to wear. It's a soft pulsing sensation. You’ll feel a slight tingling sensation that runs through to your fingers. And that indicates that the therapy is being delivered and the signal is traveling up the median nerve.
The Buzz: Which is where you most readily can take your pulse.
JS: So the pulsing…that’s what starts the signal, and it travels up your median nerve to the medulla, which is located in the brain stem…that’s where your vomiting center is. And there the signal from the Reliefband stops the mixed signals your brain is getting from the motion sickness.
The Buzz: Which sends it to your stomach…
JS: Where it would then go down the vagal nerve. It stops that signal going down your vagal nerve.
The Buzz: Could you talk about bringing this technology to CES and how it has changed?
JS: So with the original relief band, the unit interface is located on the underside of the wrist as well as where the therapy is actually occurring. So we now transferred the unit interface to the top of the wrist so that it's more user friendly. It's more comfortable. It looks cool. It doesn't scream medical device because for people that are feeling nauseous, they sort of want to be discrete about it. You don't want everybody to know.
Tim Wassberg
A graduate of New York University's Tisch School Of The Arts with degrees in Film/TV Production & Film Criticism, Tim has written for magazines such as Moviemaker, Moving Pictures, Conde Nast Traveler UK and Casino Player. He enjoys traveling and distinct craft beers among other things.
Make Sure To Check Out:
Reliefband Technologies, which is a clinically proven, FDA Cleared wearable technology for the treatment of nausea and vomiting associated with motion sickness, morning sickness and VR Gaming.