Sudbury-based medical technology company brings stroke rehabilitation device into commercial production

Years of effort have finally been rewarded by Sudbury’s IRegained.

The medtech startup whose MyHand device helps stroke patients regain hand function is moving into commercial production after securing a partnership with a major distributor, Performance Health, to sell and distribute its product in the U.S.

It’s been a long time coming, said Vineet Johnson, the company’s co-founder, president and CEO, who sees MyHand as a passion project.

“Basically, a startup is a company where you give up everything you’re doing and put your heart and soul into it,” he said in an interview with Northern Ontario Business.

Receiving approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in January 2023 gave IRegained the necessary approval to move to the next stage of commercialization.

Performance Health is one of the leading distributors of rehabilitation equipment in the United States, serving about 40 percent of the market, Johnson said, and focusing on providing such devices to hospitals and medical clinics across the country.

He expects MyHand to sell for between $30,000 and $50,000.

To date, IRegained has entered into a number of agreements with a number of Canadian and American hospitals and clinics to use MyHand, but the device is not yet widely available.

Johnson added that acquiring a “big fish” like Performance Health that will take the company to the next level is incredibly valuable.

“As a startup, we don’t have to do sales or marketing—they do that,” he said.

“Even if their share is larger, the volume of devices they’re going to sell is much higher, and your margins are going up. So the investor that comes in will come in and say, ‘I like this because this is a business that can sustain itself.'”

Assembly of the device, which has been taking place at IRegained’s NORCAT office and lab on Maley Drive, will be moved to a manufacturing facility in Mississauga that meets Health Canada and FDA licensing requirements.

As production increases, Johnson hopes to open a second plant in Sudbury, where he can employ an additional 15 people, who are currently graduates of Laurentian University and Cambrian College.

People will be needed to take care of storing and shipping products, filling orders and providing customer service, “but who, how much and when is difficult to predict,” he added.

First, he must get MyHand to the people who need it most.

The device is slightly larger than a desktop printer — it has wheels — and encourages users to perform repetitive actions, stimulating neural pathways in the brain that ultimately help stroke patients relearn basic hand functions.

What it is today—sleek, sophisticated, and portable—has evolved from its days as a simple box.

It can be wheeled anywhere in the hospital, connected and ready to receive a patient who can begin treatment. There’s even a built-in storage area for spare parts, so operators don’t have to hunt for them if they need to be replaced.

“Doctors have very busy schedules and they don’t want to spend hours at a time getting everything ready,” Johnson said.

“The design of the device has been thought out in every respect, so what you see is what you see.”

Much of the feedback on the device came from stroke patients themselves. Johnson’s team recruited locals to try the device, which had a dual benefit: he got feedback on how to improve it, and users got feedback on the impact of the treatment.

Johnson’s idea came in the early 2000s, after graduating from high school and beginning his career as a physical therapist, and was inspired by his frustration with the lack of rehabilitation options for stroke patients.

He then completed a master’s degree in neuroscience on stroke recovery and pursued a doctorate on developing robotic devices for stroke patients. Along the way, Johnson collaborated with other co-founders, although only one of them is still with the company.

In 2016, IRegained was incorporated as a company, at least on paper, and the following year Johnson decided to work on the company’s business plan while also embarking on a backpacking expedition.

After returning to Canada, he bet everything on IRegained, taking two years off to focus solely on growing the business. But those were lean times, said Johnson, who worked evenings as a driver for Uber and Amazon after failing to secure a professional position in his field.

“You would think that if you had four degrees, someone would give you a job,” he said. “It was tough; I couldn’t pay my bills.”

A kind stranger once covered his $2 purchase after all of his credit cards were declined at checkout.

As a founder, “you have to be willing to do that,” he laughed. “There are very few people who are idiotic enough to do that.”

However, his belief in his work gave him the strength to continue.

Johnson says one in four people over the age of 65 will have a stroke, sometimes even when they have no lifestyle-related symptoms such as poor diet, smoking or not getting enough sleep.

He was amazed at the thought that in 2024 you could order food using your smartphone and have it delivered directly to your address, but stroke patients have few options for rehabilitation.

People who have lost range of motion sometimes must rely on others to help with basic needs, such as getting dressed in the morning.

For formerly strong and active people who have lived independently, Johnson says, it can be a “disgusting, humiliating, almost inhuman” experience.

“Your dignity has been lost and that is all we have in life.”

Providing Performance Health is the first step toward commercial production. Johnson said IRegained is still seeking investors to continue growing the company, and is ultimately considering expanding MyHand’s reach to Southeast Asia, a region of the globe that is home to 3.5 billion people.

But first, he needs to solidify IRegained’s reach in North America.

He added that the fact that he has even made it this far is thanks to a group of local financial partners — both public and private — who have supported his efforts every step of the way.

The celebratory event at NORCAT on July 19 was partly to thank these parties. Johnson believes the collaborative approach they took to help launch IRegained and other local startups is uniquely Sudburgh.

“The fact that all these people worked together to make this happen is phenomenal,” he said. “You don’t see that in many parts of the world.”