Emily Splichal, DPM: Using Texture for Nerve Stimulation in the Feet
Many patients with neurologic conditions such as multiple sclerosis are faced with gait and stability issues due to their disease, but Splichal and Naboso Technology seek to address these issues via mechanoreceptor stimulation.
“A big belief around Naboso is that the more that we can connect to our foundation, which is our feet, the more overall improvement that we can have in our balance, in our sense of movement, and our coordination.”
Based on a decade or so of textured insole research that has been conducted, Emily Splichal, DPM, podiatrist, and CEO, Naboso Technology, and her colleagues have developed a textured insole of their own which seeks to help patients improve their gait, posture, and balance challenges. Thus far, they’ve seen success in a number of conditions, including Parkinson disease and multiple sclerosis (MS).
As the insole is considered a category 1 device under the FDA’s regulation, Splichal and Naboso are able to readily provide the insoles to patients. Additionally, when speaking with her at the 2019 Annual Meeting of the Consortium of Multiple Sclerosis Centers (CMSC), May 28-June 1, in Seattle, Washington, she told NeurologyLive® that the company can add this thin sensory insole layer even for patients with MS who already use custom orthotics.
To find out more about how these insoles work and what their target is for stimulation, NeurologyLive® sat with Splichal to further discuss them. She described them using Braille as an analogy for the insole’s 2-point discrimination textured approach.
For more coverage of CMSC 2019, click here.
