Amma (head cooling system for chemotherapy)

2021: Device announcement

In mid-November 2021, the medical and technological company Cooler Heads Care introduced a therapeutic device with a cold cap called Amma. The system should help patients undergoing chemotherapy keep their hair. The company expects the device to be in the hands of patients in the first quarter of 2022.

Hair loss is a very frequent side effect of chemotherapy and is a serious psychological problem for patients who are already struggling with their diagnosis and are undergoing complex stages of treatment. Simply cooling the scalp during chemotherapy can dramatically reduce the amount of medication absorbed by hair follicles, leading to reduced hair loss in patients. Modern technologies to achieve this goal have a high cost and can cost the patient from $3 thousand to $8 thousand, and from here this procedure is not available for many people, and Cooler Heads Care has a fixed rental rate for Amma and is $2 thousand.

Head Cooling System for Amma Chemotherapy

Cooler Heads Care sends the device directly to patients, teaches them at home how to use the system and operating methods. Patients wear a system of caps, inject the amount of time it will take to infuse chemotherapy and connect it to a portable refrigeration unit when patients arrive for chemotherapy. When their infusion is prepared, they have two more hours to cool their scalp. At this time, patients turn off the device and continue treatment while already in the car or in their home. After completing the procedure, the patient simply stores the device and takes it with him for the next infusion, and when the chemotherapy course ends, the patients send the Amma device back to the company.

Cooler Heads Care received approval for Amma from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in October 2021. The company has chosen pilot sites where the device will be available for the first time, and hopes to begin post-marketing research in early 2022. The company became a finalist of the Medtech Innovator global competition, the funds from which will go to promote the device in the world.^[1]

Notes