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April 23, 2020

Portland startup MedRhythms gets second patent, launches patient board

File Photo Owen McCarthy, left, and Brian Harris are co-founders of MedRhythms Inc.
By Staff

Portland medical technology startup MedRhythms Inc. continues to develop its product pipeline with the awarding of a second patent and the creation of a patient advisory board.

The company said it has been issued a patent for audio technology in its digital therapeutics system, which uses sensors, software and music to improve walking in patients with neurologic impairment.

The system’s audio engine screens and enhances music to make it therapeutically beneficial, creating what MedRhythms calls “prescription music.” The U.S. Commerce Department issued issued the company a patent on "Enhancing Music for Repetitive Motion Activities," according to a news release.

“With the granting of this patent, MedRhythms is one step closer to scaling products that improve the lives and mobility of the millions of people around the world with neurologic injuries and diseases," co-founder and CEO Brian Harris said in a news release.

The patent is the second for MedRhythms, which received a patent for other components of its platform last fall.

In addition, the company said Thursday it has formed a patient advisory board, calling it the “first of its kind in the industry.”

The board will guide MedRhythms’s business planning in order to address unmet needs among patients with stroke, multiple sclerosis, and Parkinson's disease, according to a separate news release.

The board comprises six individuals who are living with these conditions, the company said: Chrissy Bellows, of Maine; Craig Williams, of Texas; Lindsey Miller Santiago, of Massachusetts; Max Michaud, of Maine; Rick Geiser, of New York; and Steve DeMello, of California. Biographies of the board members are available on the MedRhythms website.

“It is critical that the voice of the patient be core to our company and incorporated as an integral part of the process as we design products and build a company to serve them,” Harris said. “We are honored to have these six individuals join us on this mission through the formation of this patient advisory board."

MedRhythms has also formed two scientific advisory boards to guide strategic decision-making and product development.

Harris, a certified music therapist, co-founded the venture capital-backed company in 2016 with Owen McCarthy, who studied biological engineering and serves as president. The pair were recognized on Mainebiz's 2018 Next list for their impact on Maine's economy.

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