Health1 min read

Trying Tourette's device was the best day of my life

By · Published by Everything Blog

In short

The technology, branded as Neupulse, demonstrated an average 25% drop in tic frequency during a 121-participant UK trial conducted in 2023. Spin-out company Neurotherapeutics Ltd has created both a commercial consumer model and a dedicated medical version following a £1m funding round. Although early users report immediate calming effects, the clinical device requires further long-term evidence and regulatory clearance before the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence will recommend it for NHS deployment.

Key points

  • Neupulse stimulates the median nerve at the wrist to interrupt brain activity that trigge…: Neupulse stimulates the median nerve at the wrist to interrupt brain activity that triggers involuntary tics.
  • The consumer model is currently available for purchase, while the medical version remains…: The consumer model is currently available for purchase, while the medical version remains under regulatory review.
  • Widespread NHS adoption depends on securing regulatory clearance and gathering further lo…: Widespread NHS adoption depends on securing regulatory clearance and gathering further long-term evidence for health watchdogs.

Sources checked by our analysis pipeline: 1

- Published

When Katie was just a child, her tics were so relentless they left her bedridden with a sore throat for two weeks.

The now 15-year-old says living with Tourette's, external affected her ability to sleep, eat, and caused her to miss school.

But a wrist device developed by researchers in Nottingham helped her calm down in an "instant".

Katie recalled trying it on for the first time, and said: "It was absolutely life-changing. It was like the best day of my life."

Tourette's syndrome is a neurodevelopmental condition with symptoms usually starting in childhood.

Katie, from Hertfordshire, said she first started to experience symptoms aged seven.

She said: "It was constantly moving, constantly making sounds and then I was kind of getting looked at like, 'why are you doing that?'

"I used to make snorting sounds, but it was constant all the time, so I'd give myself a really bad sore throat and then be in bed for two weeks.

"I think I became quite sad a lot of the time."

Katie's mum Julia said it was "heartbreaking"…

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