Peripheral neuropathy is a condition of the nervous system resulting from damage to the peripheral nerves that impedes or disrupts communication between these nerves and the central nervous system. In a healthy person who does not suffer from peripheral neuropathy, the nerves extend to the surface layer of the skin all the way through the tissues beneath the skin. As neuropathy progresses, the nerves begin to die back first from the surface layer, then from the tissues beneath. The symptoms can present anything from mild discomfort to disabling pain and loss of sensitivity. Since peripheral nerve cells continue to grow throughout life (unlike the cells of the central nervous system), healing and nerve regeneration can sometimes take place, provided diagnosis is early enough and intervention may allow the spread of the disease to be halted and possibly reversed. Peripheral Neuropathy is large-scale health problem in the world, and in the United States in particular. The statistics about peripheral neuropathy speak for themselves:
> Over 100 million people in the United States are suffering from diabetes or prediabetes. > Over 60% of these individuals will develop peripheral neuropathy, which is a disease that causes the nerves of your skin to die back, causing pain, numbness, loss of sensation and loss of function. > More than 20 million people are estimated to suffer from its symptoms, not including those who have not been diagnosed. > Peripheral neuropathy commonly affects diabetic and pre-diabetic patients, as well as those who have undergone chemotherapy in the treatment of various cancers, among others. > Peripheral neuropathy incurs $30 billion per year in healthcare costs. How We Do It Better Up to now, there has been no good early diagnostic tool for peripheral neuropathy. Neuright currently has the only device to combine early diagnosis of peripheral neuropathy, with the capability of delivering treatments and therapies as they become available. It is a low-cost point-of-care device that combines early detection with treatment delivery.
