Everett Medical Technologies LLC

Everett Medical Technologies (EMT) is comprised of a father/daughter team dedicated to developing an effective solution to one of today’s urgent and currently unmet medical needs; Chemotherapy-Induced Peripheral Neuropathy (CIPN). Each year, over 650,000 people in the U.S.U.S diagnosed with Cancer will undergo chemotherapy (1.4 million globally) and nearly 40% of those people will develop debilitating CIPN.

What Is CIPN & How is it Caused?

CIPN is essentially when the peripheral nerves become damaged from being exposed to chemical agents in the blood during chemotherapy treatments. It typically occurs in the patient’s extremities, i.e., the patient’s hands and feet. Chemotherapy is one of the most common treatments for cancer. Chemo-therapy (or Chemical Therapy) is an attempt to kill the abnormal cancerous cells with chemicals. 

As one oncologist we interviewed stated, “The brutal truth is that the goal of every oncologist is to kill the cancer before the chemotherapy kills the patient.” There are dozens of different chemotherapies as different chemicals are more effective with some cancers than others. 

Regardless of the type of chemotherapy used, the most common method of administering it is intravenously so it is spread throughout the entire body via the blood. The positive side … cancer cells ARE “killed”. The negative side … so are healthy cells. That is common knowledge and certainly explains the multitude of side effects people experience as they continue with treatments.


It’s difficult to imagine how much everyday life is impacted by something like CIPN …

… until you have it (or hear first-hand horror stories from someone who’s suffered).  All the things most of us take for granted, like holding our own toothbrush, using a dinner utensil, knowing if you’ve touched something hot and is burning you, taking a shower, wearing shoes, standing up on a foot (or feet) you can’t feel, opening the pickle jar, getting dressed, using the restroom, or turning the doorknob. 

Following the conclusion of chemotherapy treatments, there will be other side effects besides CIPN that people will still need to work with their doctor to monitor.  That is one reason why we are honored to be able to bring a solution to this ONE very real, very debilitating, medical need.  CIPN will be one less painful side effect that people undergoing chemotherapy and survivors of cancer will have to deal with.

This debilitating condition has been unsolved as long as chemotherapy has been around

… and for many years the only consideration was to try to treat or cure the nerve damage after chemotherapy had concluded. Herbal supplements, topical creams, nerve-blocking medications, and pain medications have been the course of action with very minimal impact on CIPN symptoms. Not only have they had minimal impact, but those such as opioid-based pain medications can create additional problems!

Over the past few years, there have been attempts to determine if the severity of CIPN could be minimized through the use of ice packs or other cooling methods. Some studies that have been made on this cooling method, did show SOME improvement (because when you cool the limb, the blood flow is restricted and thus limits the exposure of the fragile peripheral nerves to these harmful chemicals). Although these studies have shown promise, the results still need to be improved and consistent. Not only can cryotherapy be very difficult to precisely control the blood-flow restriction required, but also, the low temperatures required for this restriction are difficult to tolerate for the duration of chemotherapy treatments. 

Some of the most recent clinical studies have used surgical gloves to apply pressure on the surface of the hand and foot. Unfortunately, results from this method have also been inconsistent (because the blood-flow restriction cannot be precisely controlled and does not provide complete coverage). 

 

EMT has the solution!