TARA - Disrupting the continuum of care for resource constrained settings

慢性偏头痛是指头痛持续超过3个月或严重头痛持续超过15天在一个月内。它影响了世界人口的2%。世界卫生组织将严重的偏头痛发作归类为最致残的疾病之一，与痴呆症和四肢瘫痪相当。治疗从药物开始，这些药物有禁忌症和严重的副作用，并且通常对慢性偏头痛患者无效。注射治疗，如肉毒杆菌毒素和神经阻滞可能是有效的，但需要每年多次会议，也有不良影响。使用神经刺激产品向枕神经输送电脉冲的治疗有效率高达80%，但它们是为背部而不是颈部设计的，这导致手术翻修率很高。这使得慢性偏头痛人群严重不足，需要创新的解决方案。我们的愿景从根本上讲是通过创造一种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针对服务不足的患者。我们正致力于四个元素无缝地协同工作。1)LUNA-AIR：具有神经写入刺激的植入式电子设备2）LUNA-CONTROL：将与植入式设备通信并为其供电的可穿戴设备。3)LUNA-APP;用于控制植入物的移动的应用程序。4)LUNA-INDIO;一种符合人体工程学的微创注射器械，可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.