TARA - Disrupting the continuum of care for resource constrained settings

慢性偏头痛的定义是头痛持续3个月以上或一个月内严重头痛持续15天以上。它影响了大约2%的世界人口。世界卫生组织将严重的偏头痛归类为最致残的疾病之一，与痴呆和四肢瘫痪相当。治疗从药物开始，药物有禁忌症和严重的副作用，对慢性偏头痛患者通常无效。像肉毒杆菌毒素和神经阻滞这样的注射治疗是有效的，但每年需要多次治疗，也有不良影响。使用神经刺激产品向枕神经传递电脉冲的治疗有效率高达80%但它们是为背部设计的，而不是颈部，这导致了很高的手术修复率。这使得慢性偏头痛患者严重得不到服务，需要创新的解决方案。我们的愿景从根本上是基于通过创造更有效的非手术解决方案来打破护理和转诊途径的连续性，从而降低成本和风险，从而增加更多医生和患者的可及性。该联盟将开发一种治疗慢性偏头痛的新平台，特别适用于资源有限的环境和服务不足的患者。我们正在努力使4个元素无缝地协同工作。1) LUNA-AIR：一种具有神经写入刺激的植入式电子设备2)LUNA-CONTROL：一种可穿戴设备，将与植入式设备通信并为其供电。3) LUNA-APP;控制植入物的移动应用程序。4) LUNA-INJECT;这是一种符合人体工程学的微创注射装置，可以最大限度地减少组织创伤和医生所需的培训。

Chronic migraine is defined as a headache persistent for more than 3 months or a severe headache persistent for more than 15 days within a month. It affects approximately 2% of the world population. The World Health Organization classifies severe migraine attacks as among the most disabling illnesses, comparable to dementia and quadriplegia. Treatments start with pharmaceutical drugs, which have contra-indications and severe side effects and often remain ineffective in chronic migraine patients. Injectable treatments like Botox and nerve blocks can be effective but require multiple sessions per year and also have undesirable effects. Treatments using neurostimulation products that deliver electrical pulses to the occipital nerve have been up to 80% effective but they are designed for the back not the neck which results in high rates of surgical revisions. This leaves the chronic migraine population severely underserved and in need of an innovative solution. Our vision is fundamentally based on disrupting the continuum of care and referral pathway by creating a more effective non-surgical solution that reduces cost and risk and therefore increases accessibility to more physicians and patients. The consortium will develop a novel platform for the treatment of chronic migraine that will be particularly applicable to resource restricted environments and targeting underserved patients. We are working on 4 elements working together seamlessly. 1) LUNA-AIR: An implantable electronics device with neural write stimulation 2) LUNA-CONTROL: A wearable device that will communicate with and power the implantable device. 3) LUNA-APP; a mobile app to control the implant. 4) LUNA-INJECT; an ergonomic, minimally invasive, injection device that minimises tissue trauma and training required for physicians.