WILMINGTON, N.C., February 23, 2023 (Newswire.com) - SportGait, the brain wellness and medical technology company, proudly announced today the publication of an article in the Journal of Concussion validating that its patented gait technology can create biomarkers to identify and manage neurological conditions. The first-of-its-kind study tested the reliability and accuracy of accelerometer-based gait assessment data. The study found that SportGait's BKG gait method and algorithms are superior in accuracy and usability for measuring and managing concussion outcomes.

"My core hypothesis is that the way we move through space reflects our overall health status. The BKG can be used as a biomarker of disease because each condition has a characteristic biokinetic signature," said Dr. Mark Williams, MD and BKG Innovator. "I created the BKG measuring other neurological conditions like Parkinson's Disease and Stroke, and I suspected that its application for mild traumatic brain injury would be equally as effective."

In the study, data collected by the accelerometer was used to create BioKinetoGraphs (BKG^TM), which are a visual depiction of a person's gait. Like the shape of an EKG waveform, the graph-like displays visually correspond to different events during a gait cycle such as the heal striking the ground or the toe pushing off of it.  

"Physical, and in this case gait, biomarkers are becoming a critical component for healthcare," commented SportGait President and CEO Chris Newton. "Our team has worked tirelessly to create reliable and valid assessments and when you start looking at concussion, gait and balance are critical to measure. Our goal is to provide invaluable patient data to doctors who can use this information to improve care and, ultimately, health outcomes."

The research article was published in the Journal of Concussion in February 2023, and appears in Volume 7: 1-11. Link to peer reviewed paper The lead author and head of the multifacility research consortium, Dr. Len Lecci, Ph.D. said, "What our research has shown is that the data derived from one's gait are unique and effectively complement neurocognitive assessments to provide a more comprehensive evaluation of the possible consequences of a concussion."

The peer-reviewed paper, in part, compares predicting concussion symptom endorsements, and the SportGait BKG predicts with effect sizes 4.4 times larger than the popular Balance Error Scoring System (BESS), 2.9 times larger than the National Institute of Health's 4-M Gait Test, and 1.7 times larger than the two combined. 

"It is exciting to see that a simple twenty (20)-step walking test can outperform the time-consuming disparate balance and gait assessments," Newton continued. "Dr. Mark is a visionary and well ahead of his time. Athletes and patients will benefit greatly from his invention."

SportGait, which offers a scalable platform for medical providers, sports organizations, coaches and parents, seeks to bridge the gap between brain wellness and medical technology using a best-in-class, research-backed application developed by a team of doctors and scientists focused on the field of concussion.

About SportGait

SportGait is a concussion support and recovery system that offers a scalable platform for medical providers, coaches, and parents. Their array of assessments are best-in-class and research-backed with the goal of bridging brain wellness with medical technology. The scientifically developed system aids and educates users in effectively evaluating and monitoring concussions. SportGait is a highly trusted source of medical technology, and was chosen to be the enterprise-wide standard for concussion testing for one of the top five largest hospital systems in the U.S. For more information please visit https://sportgait.com.

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich., February 23, 2023 (Newswire.com) - ADHD Online, the leader in online ADHD assessment and treatment options, said patients using telehealth for access to certain prescriptions must take specific steps to prepare for changes related to the end of the national Public Health Emergency (PHE) on May 11. 

"The pending end of the Public Health Emergency will change how telemedicine and telehealth operate," said ADHD Online co-founder and CEO Zachariah Booker. "It is vital that patients who utilize telehealth and telemedicine are aware of how this will impact them moving forward with treatment plans and prescriptions." 

The Department of Health and Human Services announced Feb. 9 that the PHE implemented in response to the COVID-19 pandemic will expire on May 11.

In order to speed vaccine development and to help people maintain access to their doctors and medications, the PHE temporarily suspended many healthcare regulations. Among them was a requirement that physicians, with limited exceptions, must conduct an in-person medical examination of a patient in order to prescribe a controlled substance.

The PHE allowed telemedicine companies like ADHD Online to prescribe all types of medication without an in-person exam, a vital option during the pandemic when patients were often unable to see their doctors in person and telehealth became a primary way of receiving healthcare. 

As of May 11, pre-pandemic rules will apply and telemedicine companies will not be able to prescribe controlled substances without an in-person exam. This includes any medication prescribed to those with ADHD. Patients who want to continue to use telehealth to receive prescriptions for medications on the federally controlled substance lists must be able to document that they have seen a physician within the past two years. 

ADHD Online is recommending that its patients taking widely used medications like Adderall, Ritalin and Concerta (or any other medications on this list) take the following steps:  

If they have seen a doctor in the past 23 months, they should send this form to the healthcare provider and ask the provider to complete the form. Then the provider or patient should return the form to ADHD Online.

If they have not seen a doctor over the past 23 months, they should schedule an in-person physical with their primary care provider and bring this form to the provider to complete. Then the provider or patient should return the form and a summary of the patient's doctor visit to ADHD Online.

"Taking these steps will ensure that patients will continue to receive their medications after the expiration of the PHE," Booker said. "Rest assured that ADHD Online is here for you, and we're working hard to make sure you will continue to receive care and treatment for your ADHD."

About ADHD Online
ADHD Online was founded in 2018 with the mission that everyone should have access to quality ADHD assessments regardless of who and where they are. The ADHD Online team is filled with industry experts across the United States who all share the same passion for ADHD and making sure patients have access to critical mental health services. ADHD Online is leading the way with being a critical voice for those who might be struggling with ADHD and is the only organization to offer HIPAA-secured ADHD assessments online with certified results from licensed psychologists. ADHD Online is active in all 50 states.

AQuity Logo
AQuity Logo

CARY, N.C., February 23, 2023 (Newswire.com) - AQuity Solutions, the market leader in clinical documentation capture solutions for over 40 years, proudly announces the launch of QScribe Live™ and QScribe Assist™ solutions to enhance the rapidly growing user base. With over 2,500 clients, including 21 of the Top 25 health systems, results from QScribe early adopters are expected in the second half of 2023.  Announced earlier this month, AQuity was recognized as Best in KLAS for their clinical documentation capture solutions, including the inaugural Virtual Scribe solutions category.

The QScribe solutions will leverage AQuity's market-leading position in real-time virtual scribe and documentation capture and provide multiple options to current and future clients to meet clients at their state of readiness and workflow requirements. 

"Since launching our real-time virtual scribe solution, our clients report improved outlook, quality of life, and more time to care for patients," shared Kashyap Joshi, CEO. "The client feedback and acceleration of adoption within our client base underscores the impact of the solutions on provider wellness and patient care."

"Our clients have unique needs, workflows, and varying levels of technology adoption within over 50 electronic medical records systems," added Jason Kolinoski, COO. "QScribe provides flexibility to our rapidly growing client base to choose the optimal documentation capture solution for their unique needs."

AQuity Solutions is a proud sponsor of the Healthcare Burnout Symposium from Feb. 23 to 25 at the UCLA Luskin Conference Center in Los Angeles and will have multiple representatives and clients at the conference.

About AQuity

Headquartered in Cary, NC, AQuity provides solutions for 21 of the Top 25 and over half of the Top 250 Health Systems in the United States. AQuity employs over 7,500 documentation capture and medical coding professionals across the United States, India, Australia, Canada, and the U.K. With over 40 years of experience in service and technology solutions for healthcare, AQuity is recognized year after year by KLAS and Black Book as a leading vendor in multiple disciplines. AQuity is privately held. https://aquitysolutions.com

DENVER, February 23, 2023 (Newswire.com) - The Dan Lewis Foundation for Brain Regeneration Research (the DLF) happily announces the 2023 DLF Prize. This $15,000 prize will be awarded to an early career scientist in neuroscience, pharmacology, or biotechnology whose research record and future research plans align with one or more of the DLF's current research priorities. These research priorities are:

1. Research into pharmacological methods of reactivating or augmenting synaptogenesis
2. Research into trials of repleting damaged cortex using derived cortical neurons
3. Research into transcriptomic profiles of cortical neurons during the recovery phase post-brain injury
4. Research furthering effective design of anti-sense oligonucleotides and/or other small molecule medicines to down-regulate inhibitors of regeneration in the cortex and spinal cord

The DLF Prize application portal is now open and can be accessed at the foundation's website: DanLewisFoundation.org

Submissions of applications are due by March 31, 2023. The DLF Prize will be awarded by May 31, 2023.

Tantalum Powder Printed Lattice
Printed lattice from Croom Medical on a GE M2 Series 5 printer using Spherical Tantalum Powder from Global Advanced Metals

WELLESLEY, Mass., February 23, 2023 (Newswire.com) - Global Advanced Metals (USA) and Croom Medical (Ireland) are collaborating to establish a turnkey tantalum-based additive manufacturing (AM) platform. A laser powder bed fusion GE M2 Series 5 printer has been installed within Croom's facility, with the printer being fully dedicated to the use of GAM's tantalum AM powder. With Croom's years of successful contract manufacturing experience, the tantalum print capability is being offered by Croom as a contract manufacturing solution, bringing the advantages of tantalum to the medical device, aerospace, and related markets. 

Global Advanced Metals (GAM), headquartered in Massachusetts, USA, has more than a 70-year history of innovation and manufacturing of high-grade tantalum powders for use in electronics and other applications. GAM has more recently developed a spheriodized tantalum powder, a necessary form for use in "printing" of tantalum parts.

Based in County Limerick, Ireland, Croom Medical (Croom) has operated for more than 35 years providing contract manufacturing services to medical device (and other) OEMs. In recent years, Croom has developed an extensive capability in AM technology in collaboration with a number of academic and state-sponsored institutions and has successfully manufactured more than 20,000 devices by AM technology.

AM has a number of key advantages over traditional subtractive manufacturing processes.  AM intrinsically uses less material than subtractive methods, produces more complex and lightweight part geometries, can be used for rapid prototyping, and manufactured parts can be ultimately printed in close proximity to point of use.

GAM and Croom are initially targeting the contract manufacturing of medical implants and components that would benefit from the enhanced performance offered by tantalum. Multiple papers cite advantages of tantalum-based implants compared to existing implant materials, including improved biocompatibility (reduced clotting), enhanced bone in-growth, tolerable to higher stress, and produces high surface friction promoting implant stability^1,2,3,4,5. These benefits should lower the rate of surgery revisions, thus avoiding patient discomfort and unnecessary added surgery costs. Although use of tantalum in AM applications is relatively new, tantalum has been extensively and successfully used for many years in in-vivo surgical devices such as surgical staples, dental implants, and hip and knee implants. GAM and Croom believe that using AM technology to develop these devices will enable production of complex, porous, strong and lightweight structures.

As part of this collaboration, GAM will provide spherical tantalum powder, produced in its Boyertown, Pennsylvania, plant and derived from ethically and conflict-free-sourced tantalum raw material. The team at Croom will manufacture devices and components for customers using a recently acquired GE M2 printer 100% dedicated to the project and material. In a circular manufacturing cycle, tantalum raw material that cannot be reused in this AM process will be recycled back to GAM's Pennsylvania facility. GAM's raw material and tantalum powder expertise, Croom's decades-long experience manufacturing, finishing and testing devices to medical device standards, and Croom's proximity and relationship with many of the top device OEMs situated in Ireland, positions this collaboration for long-term success. 

Andrew O'Donovan, CEO of Global Advanced Metals, added, "GAM is thrilled to work with such an experienced and trusted company as Croom Medical. In recent years, GAM has worked to enhance the production of ultra-pure spherical tantalum powder for 3D printing. GAM views the intrinsic purity and properties of tantalum as a wonderful fit for next generation implants and Croom is the company with the experience, capability and long-established customer relationships to bring this to market."

1. Matsuno H, Yokoyama A, Watari F, Motohiro U, Kawasaki T., Biocompatibility and osteogenesis of refractory metal implants, titanium, hafnium, niobium, tantalum and rhenium. Biomaterials. 2001 ;22:1253-1262.

2. Miyazaki T, et.al., Biomaterials. 2002;23:827-32; Balla V, et.al., Acta  Biomater. 2009

3. Hacking SA, Bobyn JD, Toh K, Tanzer M, Krygier JJ. Fibrous tissue ingrowth and attachment to porous tantalum. J Biomed Mater Res. 2000; 52:631-638

4. Hacking S, et.al., J Biomed Mater Res. 2000;52:631-638; Balla, V., et.al., Acta Biomater. 2010 Aug; 6(8): 3349-3359;   Levine BR, Sporer S, Poggie RA, Valle CJD, Jacobs JJ. Experimental and clinical performance of porous tantalum in orthopedic surgery. Biomaterials. 2006; 27:4671-4681.

5. Sungail, C., Abid, A., Metal Powder Report, online 25 March 2019

ABOUT GAM

A leading conflict-free tantalum producer, GAM has exclusive rights to the world's largest industrial resources of tantalum ore located in Western Australia, where GAM extracts tantalum as a co-product of lithium mining. GAM produces conflict-free tantalum powders and metallurgical products at its Pennsylvania, USA, and Aizu, Japan, plants for a range of industries, including electronics, aerospace, defense and medical. GAM's facilities in Japan and the USA were first declared "Conflict Free" in 2010 under the, now called, Responsible Minerals Assurance Program and have maintained conformance to this program every year.

CMMI Appraisal

NEW YORK, February 23, 2023 (Newswire.com) - Ready Computing is excited to announce that it has been appraised at maturity level 2 of ISACA's Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI®) version 2.0 for Services (SVC). Ready Computing is a family of business entities in the commercial and federal sectors that delivers professional services and software products in the health information technology (HIT) space. The appraisal was performed by Multi-Dimensional Maturity, and the results are published on the CMMI Published Appraisal Results (PARs) website.

Ready Computing has one simple vision: "Do great work, be a great place to work." This was the driving force behind the pursuit of CMMI maturity. As an organization already certified to three ISO/IEC Standards (9001:2015, 20000-1:2018, and 27001:2013), adding CMMI maturity only further solidifies the 'Ready Family' of entities as a premier provider of professional services and software products in the HIT industry. 

"We will never stop improving," says Mike LaRocca, Founder and CEO at Ready Computing. "As an organization dedicated to continual improvement, our goal is to proactively evolve as our clients' needs, goals, and strategies advance. There are five maturity levels, and Maturity Level 2 is just the beginning of our CMMI journey." 

CMMI is a proven, outcome-based performance model and the globally accepted standard for improving capability, optimizing business performance, and aligning operations to business goals. The CMMI framework was architected as a process improvement model that organizations could attempt to benchmark themselves against. To successfully pass the benchmark appraisal, organizations must clearly demonstrate how their systems function through well-established, repeatable, and mature processes. Achieving any level of CMMI maturity requires an organization to embed organizational standards, processes, and controls at its roots and then demonstrate them by producing documented evidence. 

"Achieving this prestigious acknowledgment from another internationally recognized and well-respected association, such as ISACA, is absolute proof that our company is dedicated to service excellence," says Anthony Simonetta, Director of Compliance and Risk Management. "This level of recognition is an indisputable way to highlight the key differentiators the 'Ready Family' has to offer its clients and partners." 

An appraisal at Maturity Level 2 indicates the organization is performing at a "managed" level. This means that Ready Computing identifies and monitors progress towards project performance objectives.

"It's one thing for a company to claim that it has adopted and adheres to industry-leading standards, but it is a whole extra level of excellence to be formally recognized by multiple world-renowned standards and framework bodies," says Jake Pugh, General Counsel for Ready Computing. "There is no higher level of recognition than for our company to be objectively distinguished as one that does exactly what it says that it does, by multiple independent assessors, who have evaluated us against multiple international standards and frameworks."