After spending much of last year shifting resources toward an update to its DPNCheck screening device for peripheral neuropathy, NeuroMetrix is ready to reap the rewards of that investment.
The devicemaker has begun rolling out DPNCheck 2.0, according to a Monday announcement. The DPNCheck system centers on a handheld device that’s equipped with biosensors to look for signs of peripheral neuropathy, a common condition that’s caused by nerve damage and results in symptoms typically focused in the hands and feet including weakness, numbness, pain and a pins-and-needles sensation.
The device works by measuring nerve conduction velocity and response amplitude in the sural nerve of the lower leg—factors that have been identified as accurate biomarkers of the condition. The point-of-care test can be completed in the span of about a minute, with results generated within 15 seconds.
The 2.0 version of DPNCheck improves the device’s temperature compensation and also adds a large touchscreen display that can guide clinicians through performing the test and show the real-time results more clearly than the previous model’s much smaller LCD screen.
“For more than a decade, our first-generation DPNCheck device has been used and trusted by thousands of providers to assess over 2 million patients,” said NeuroMetrix CEO Shai Gozani, M.D., Ph.D. “We are excited to launch our newest version to even better address the needs of our clinical partners. We’ve opened the door to more widespread screening with a user-friendly design that makes it faster and easier for care organizations to roll out and train their point-of-care staff and deploy testing.”
The DPNCheck technology has long served as NeuroMetrix’s main source of revenue. To wit: In the company’s most recent earnings call—which took place in October, covering the third quarter of 2022—CFO Thomas Higgins noted that DPNCheck sales made up “about 75%” of NeuroMetrix’s $2 million in quarterly revenues.
Additionally, in both its second- and third-quarter reports last year, the devicemaker described increases in spending to fund, in part, “product development initiatives” for DPNCheck. NeuroMetrix also spent the year growing its DPNCheck commercial team, with an eye specifically toward growing its base of Medicare Advantage users.
DPNCheck sales slipped about 6% in the third quarter of 2022 thanks to a decrease in orders from NeuroMetrix’s largest customer, but Gozani said at the time that the ongoing expansions to that device portfolio “should start to contribute meaningful sales in 2023.”
With the rollout of DPNCheck 2.0 underway, NeuroMetrix said in this week’s announcement that it will soon tack on even more features to the technology. DPNCheck Cloud, which is scheduled to be released later this year, will offer cloud-based software that can collect entire populations’ screening data and integrate with healthcare provider clients’ electronic health record systems.
NeuroMetrix is also the maker of the Quell system, which last year became the first non-pharmaceutical option approved by the FDA to help treat the chronic pain associated with fibromyalgia. The neuromodulation device is designed to stimulate sensory nerves in the leg, with an aim of triggering the body’s natural pain relief response.