Necessity is the mother of innovation. This is the heart and soul of Koya Medical with their novel and disruptive non-pneumatic compression device, Dayspring. Leveraging the benefits of mobility, muscle pumps, and exercise, this portable active compression device utilizes a smart metal alloy to mimic the physiological effects of manual lymphatic drainage while simultaneously providing static compression that allows for function and mobility. Exercise plays an invaluable and often unappreciated role in supporting the body’s lymphatic system and maintaining fluid homeostasis. This has important implications for lymphedema management, especially for lymphedema associated with venous swelling. For example, in the lower extremity, the calf muscle ”pump” is recognized to be critically important in helping to facilitate venous and lymphatic return to the trunk. Moreover, exercise serves to facilitate improved diaphragmatic breathing, an established technique that stimulate deep lymphatic structures. This aids in understanding why, in a head-to-head randomized controlled study, Koya’s Dayspring NPCD (controller and arm garment) outperformed the pneumatic compression device (PCD) comparator, which required an additional pneumatic chest garment.(1) Unlike the PCD, which functionally tether the patient to an electrical outlet or non-portable machine which pumps air into the garment, the Dayspring enables patients to stay active and mobile resulting in better outcomes: greater reduction in limb swelling as well as improved quality of life.

Designed for comfort, usability, and portability, the Koya Dayspring non-pneumatic compression device is the first multimodal compression device designed for active people. Dayspring (available for both upper and lower extremity) provides static compression, segmental and sequential calibrated gradient compression while enabling muscle contractions and joint range of motion.  Movement is key!  The more people move throughout their day, the more their lymphatic system is stimulated, and hemodynamics improved.  The FDA cleared 510K Class II device is intended for use in a clinical or home setting by medical professionals and patients who are under medical supervision for the treatment of the following:

• Lymphedema
• Primary lymphedema
• Post mastectomy edema
• Edema following trauma and sports injuries
• Post immobilization edema
• Venous insufficiency
• Reducing wound healing time
• Treatment and assistance in healing stasis dermatitis, venous stasis ulcers, or arterial and diabetic leg ulcers
• Lipedema
• Phlebolymphedema

The Dayspring is a new and distinct treatment option that is clinically effective and offers promotion of comprehensive lymph transport unavailable with existing pneumatic compression device (PCD) treatments. People with chronic edemas and lymphedema can now live active lives and remain in control of their condition versus the condition controlling them.   

REFERENCES:

1. Rockson et al. J Vasc Surg Venous Lymphat Disord.2022 Nov;10(6):1359-1366

Once innovation meant breaking out the donuts and gathering your team around the conference table.

That scenario changed forever when ChatGPT by Open AI made its debut. Chat was followed quickly by Bard, Google’s competing artificial intelligence product.

From designing furniture to improving medical diagnostics, companies like Ikea, and IBM are using AI to stimulate breakthrough discoveries.

While innovation is this technology’s meat, efficiency and deep understanding are its bread and butter. Many AI functions are already old hat. Think of Netflix content recommendations and Alexa’s ability to understand your voice commands. However, the bots introduced AI’s magic to the public.

Impact for Associations

As Founder and CEO of .orgSource, a consultancy to associations, I’ve been thinking about what AI means for our community. Having worked in this industry for more than 25 years, I’ve seen first-hand how technology has changed the way we interact with members.

Here is a current example of how AI is improving members’ professional efficiency. The video at this link demonstrates how ASReview Lab’s platform is redesigning systematic reviews, making this time-consuming task fast, accurate, and efficient. As researchers sort articles to extract the most relevant data, the software learns from those selections. After each choice, the “deck” is reshuffled to place the most desirable articles at the top.

Building products like this could become an area of non-dues revenue for associations to attract members and augment resources.

This chart illustrates how some associations are using AI and what the future might hold. By the way, ChatGPT created this comparison, which has not been edited.