Step into the Future

Revolutionizing walking analysis, one patient at a time

Introducing Celestra Health: a non-invasive digital biomarker to monitor neurological conditions. Our cloud-based gait analysis software has been designated by the FDA as a Class II medical device and uses advanced machine learning to quantitatively measure patient mobility in their natural environment. Now, you can see trends that help detect changes earlier than ever before, allowing for intervention before irreversible neurological damage occurs.

Celestra Health Medical Smart Insole digital footprint

The Importance of Gait Measurements

A key indicator for early detection of disease progression.

A person’s walking technique is called their ‘gait’, and it has been determined that for neurological conditions such as Multiple Sclerosis (MS) and Parkinson’s Disease, there is a strong correlation between gait quality and disease progression.

In fact, walking is consistently ranked by patients as the #1 factor affecting their Quality of Life. Likewise, for clinicians, walking typically tops the list of factors for assessing changes in disease condition. Celestra Health has designed a platform that detects subtle changes in gait as a key indicator for early detection of disease progression, allowing for intervention before irreversible neurological damage occurs.

Continuous monitoring enables the formation of a highly accurate picture of disease impact over time. Celestra Health’s algorithms have been trained on the world’s largest database of walking samples collected under free living conditions from patients with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) and Parkinson’s Disease. Celestra Health is currently involved in 7 clinical trials in 4 countries (US, UK, Germany and Canada), and we are using data from these trials to continually enhance our gait measurement algorithms.

Laboratory-Grade Accuracy

Our “Gait Lab in a Shoe” platform has been designated by the FDA as a Class II medical device.

Celestra Health uses proprietary AI algorithms that objectively measure walking quality, based on data collected by wearable insoles equipped with gyroscopes, accelerometers, and pressure sensors. Our clinical trials have demonstrated that our gait algorithms measure walking quality with an equivalent level of accuracy as a multi-million-dollar gait laboratory; we refer to this concept as “Gait Lab in a Shoe”.

While smart watches and smart phones can be used for tracking health and exercise-related data, they are less than ideal when it comes to neurological conditions. There are limitations when it comes to tracking walking patterns using a device that is attached to your wrist or is in your back pocket, jacket or knapsack. While Celestra Health makes use of movement data available from your smart watch and/or smart phone to increase the accuracy of its insights, our platform goes much further.

Our smart insoles are equipped with sensors that measure the pressure exerted by different areas of your foot, as well as your acceleration and rotational movement in 3 dimensions. This sensor data is used by our algorithms to measure over 200 aspects of a patient’s gait at a rate of 50x per second, allowing our platform to construct a highly accurate view of your walking signature and to track subtle changes over time that would otherwise not be detected.

Our clinical trial results have proven that we can detect changes in disease condition with a higher degree of sensitivity than existing clinical measures; for example, we can detect changes within as few as 2 months that only show up in clinical assessments after 12 months. For this reason, our platform is also designed to help pharmaceutical firms assess drug therapy effectiveness more quickly than previously possible.

Gait quality graph using smart insole monitoring from Celestra Health

This graph shows a MS patient’s walking quality over a 12-month period; each green dot represents a 15-minute walking session recorded in the patient’s natural environment. Our algorithms assign a walking quality score between 0 and 100 (with 100 representing perfect walking) to each session.

In this example of a patient with a high level of walking impairment, our platform detected a decrease in walking quality within the first 2 months, whereas even after 12 months, the clinician assessment did not detect a meaningful change. Specifically, the patient’s Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) remained unchanged at 6.0 and the Timed 25 Foot Walking Test results only showed a 16% worsening (20% is the threshold for meaningful change).

In contrast, the patient reported a significant walking deterioration over the 12-month period that was supported by the Celestra Health measurements.

Celestra Health is the world leader in gait measurement for neurological conditions.

Ease-of-Use

The Celestra Health platform was designed in consultation with a global team of patients and clinicians.

From the outset, we have designed our platform to be as intuitive as possible, for patients and clinicians alike. With a patient usability rating of 85% measured over 12 months of continuous use, we are confident that patients are comfortable using our platform on a long-term basis.

Patient usability is a measure of the ease with which patients can incorporate a given technology into their everyday life and is a critical factor when evaluating the effectiveness of a wearable-based platform. We are working closely with patients around the world to continuously improve the usability of our platform.

Similarly, we have designed our platform to deliver results that are meaningful to clinicians. While Double Support Time, Swing Time and Gait Asymmetry metrics are widely used by gait specialists, exposing low level gait metrics to clinicians is generally not helpful. For this reason, we have designed a proprietary composite index that is tuned to specific disease conditions such as Multiple Sclerosis (MS) and Parkinson’s Disease. Our composite index provides clinicians with single intuitive score that encapsulates over 200 low level gait metrics. In this way, clinicians can determine at a glance whether a patient’s walking quality has changed over time. Throughout our design process, we have worked closely with a world-class team of neurologists from Harvard Medical School (US), Bart’s Health (one of the largest NHS trusts in the UK), Technical University of Dresden (Germany) and The Ottawa Hospital (Canada).

How it Works

Celestra Health has developed a non-invasive digital biomarker specifically designed to monitor neurological conditions.

Celestra Health uses “smart insole” technology that is linked wirelessly to an easy-to-use software application that is installed by the patient on their personal smartphone. The patient places the smart insoles in their everyday footwear; the smart insoles automatically wake up when movement is detected, at which point, walking data is collected as patients perform their usual daily activities.

Multiple sensors are used to capture movement-related data, including acceleration, direction, pressure, speed and rotation. This data is securely transmitted to the Celestra Health cloud where AI algorithms are applied to objectively measure walking quality and to gain insights into walking patterns.

This provides a real-world view of patient walking quality under free living conditions. It does not require a significant time commitment from the patient; capturing 15 minutes of walking three times a week is all that is recommended. Personalized insights are shared with the patient through the Celestra Health smartphone app and to clinicians via a secure cloud-based web portal. In the event of signs of significant disease progression, the clinician is automatically notified of the change, potentially triggering a change in treatment.

We are continuing to enhance our algorithms to derive insights from turning, stair ascending / descending and standing, in addition to straight-line walking. We can also objectively measure fatiguability during walking sessions of up to 15 minutes, to establish a baseline for each patient and monitor for changes over time.

Fatiguability is a key aspect of walking that until this point, has not been possible to accurately measure outside of a laboratory environment.

Gait Laboratory Comparison

Measuring patients under real world conditions is significantly more meaningful than in-clinic or laboratory-based assessments.

For progressive neurological diseases such as Multiple Sclerosis (MS) or Parkinson’s Disease, patients are sometimes referred by their clinicians to a gait laboratory, where synchronized high speed video cameras, steel force plates and specialized treadmills are used to accurately measure the patient’s gait. This process is expensive, time consuming, and requires highly trained personnel to collect and analyse the data. It is also difficult for patients who already have limitations on their schedules.

Even the best gait lab still only captures a moment in time. With many neurological conditions, symptoms may come and go. Therefore, a digital biomarker that can track changes over time is an unmet need for both patients and clinicians.

Our digital biomarker has several important advantages over gait labs:

Measures walking under real world conditions

Detects trends over time vs. assessing a moment in time

Patient convenience

1/100th the cost of a conventional gait laboratory

Prescription Gait Analysis

Covered by health insurance plans

The Celestra Health platform is easy-to-use for both patients and clinicians alike. Because it requires a prescription, some or all costs involved may be covered through a patient’s health insurance provider or government health plan.

Celestra Health is involved in 7 clinical trials in 4 countries (US, UK, Germany and Canada), allowing us to continually enhance our proprietary gait measurement algorithms.

At Celestra Health, we have worked closely with patients to ensure our wearable device fits into their lives as seamlessly as possible. Our smart insoles are invisible to others, as they are fully hidden within the patient’s everyday footwear. We continue to consult closely with our Patient Advisory Board, in addition to the patient feedback we are receiving from our multi-country clinical trials

"We take patient data very seriously. Our cloud infrastructure is HIPAA-compliant and is monitored 24 x 7 for security threats. Comprehensive cybersecurity testing is conducted every 6 months by an accredited 3rd party agency.” - Bruce Ford, CEO