Vagus Nerve Stimulation (VNS) Clinical Trial Begins Enrolling COVID-19 Patients

OVERLAND PARK, Kan., July 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- COVID-19 patients have begun enrolling in an interventional clinical trial at Hospital Virgen del Carmen in Zarate, Argentina. The study will evaluate the therapeutic effect of transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation (taVNS) in patients with pneumonia associated with the disease. Hospital Virgen del Carmen, the first health center in South America to conduct such a study, will use Vitality Smartcable taVNS devices supplied by Nemechek Technologies, LLC.

Some COVID-19 patients have an excessive inflammatory immune response known as a "cytokine storm." Vagus nerve stimulation is shown to suppress inflammatory reactions and may be useful in controlling the hyper-immune response that can lead to lung failure and death. Stimulation of vagus nerve fibers in the ear activates what is known as the "inflammatory reflex." Much like the baroreflex that controls blood pressure, the inflammatory reflex signals the body to naturally regulate its immune response.   

Hospitalized study participants will receive taVNS for 5 minutes 4 times a day. After patient consent, stimulation will be given to adults with moderate or severe pneumonia not requiring mechanical ventilation, or critical pneumonia requiring a mechanical ventilator. Study patients will continue to receive standard of care treatment. Patients who choose not to receive taVNS therapy will continue to receive standard care treatment. The results obtained in patients treated with taVNS plus standard treatment and patients with standard treatment alone will be compared.

The Vitality Smartcable taVNS is safe, non-invasive, easy to use, and does not interfere with standard of care therapies.  Importantly, a single device can be shared among many patients with minimum sterilization.

"This study at Hospital Virgen del Carmen is groundbreaking. Resource-limited healthcare systems desperately need a cost-effective treatment to limit the progress of COVID-19 in seriously ill patients."
? Patrick Nemechek D.O.

Read the announcement in Corre La Voz (en espanol).

About Nemechek Technologies, LLC
Founded by Patrick Nemechek, D.O. and Jean Nemechek in 2019, Nemechek Technologies, LLC is a privately held manufacturer of bio-electronic medicine products.  The Vitality Smartcable, is the first taVNS device to run on a smartphone. 

With 20 years' experience as an HIV physician and researcher, Dr. Nemechek was awarded U.S. Patent No. 10,335,396 for his method of using vagus nerve stimulation to lower inflammation and reversing autonomic nervous system damage. Dr. Nemechek has treated more than 1,000 patients with taVNS therapy over the past ten years at his clinic near Phoenix, Ariz. www.nemechektechnologies.shop

Media Contact:
Mike Nemechek
[email protected] 
913-219-1239

SOURCE Nemechek Technologies, LLC