A Wearable That Promises to Take Away Your Pain

A San Francisco startup hopes to give people a drug-free method to relieve pain.

Brian Buntz

There are wearables that count your steps, monitor your posture, check your stress levels, and track your pulse. So why not have one to relieve chronic pain?   

Shaun Rahimi, CEO of the startup Cur (San Francisco), wondered the same thing and decided to do something about it. For much of his life, he's suffered from scoliosis and dealt with chronic pain. Then, on top of that, he had a wrist injury that compelled him to find relief.

After being frustrated with everything from acupuncture to prescribed drugs, Rahimi eventually discovered a temporary cure to the pain while an undergraduate: transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS). TENS devices have been around for decades and haven't changed a whole lot since.

"The first one I saw was a big box that cost about $10,000. This physical therapist puts this device on me and pressed a few buttons and the pain was gone within five to 10t seconds," Rahimi remembers.

Eventually he discovered that less-expensive TENS technology was available over the counter. He found a TENS device that looked something like a Walkman and used it for three months. "In the course of that time, I went from being debilitated by constant pain in my wrist and back to leading a normal lifestyle. I used TENS every day for six to eight hours per day."

Despite being effective, he also learned about their shortcomings. "Most of them are expensive, complicated, bulky, and not easy to use," Rahimi says. Some of them make beeping noises reminiscent of 1980s electronics.

So he set out to build a TENS system for the 21^st century. It would be affordable, portable, and easy to use. "I wanted to be able to give it to my grandma and have her be able to use it," Rahimi says. "Traditionally, it's been a very small percentage of people who wanted to take a box that shocks you and try to figure out how to fine tune it to manage their pain. When I tested an older TENS device on my grandma, she had a panic attack."  

The biggest challenge was packing the functionality from a device with a box-like form factor to a Band Aid-sized device a user could wear on the go.

The other consideration was automating the TENS fine-tuning that typically happens at a doctor's or physical therapist's office. "A doctor or physical therapist will turn on a TENS device and ask you questions: 'How does this feel? How does that feel?'"

Cur uses sensors to automate this process to maximize the relief it can deliver. We have a bioimpedance sensor and an accelerometer. "We use those to measure muscle twitches and how the device is oriented on the body--including how comfortably it is attached. We use those to adjust the amplitude of the device to match the person's responses as well as the frequency," Rahimi says.

After the first couple of weeks of using it, the device is designed to learn about the person's specific needs and adjust. "It is like the Nest thermostat, which learns to adjust itself based on whether you like the heat up high or low," Rahimi says.

The company is so confident in its results that it is planning on offering a 60-day no-questions-asked return policy.

Cur is offering the device for $149 for the next 30 days as part of its crowdfunding campaign.

The company is working on obtaining FDA clearance for the device and plans on selling Cur for around $300 once it is officially launches.

Brian Buntz is the editor-in-chief of MPMN and Qmed. Follow him on Twitter at @brian_buntz.

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