The Study

Amy Edgar, APRN, CRNP, FNP-C is a family nurse practitioner and founder of the Children’s Integrated Center for Success (CICS). She is also the mother of a child with autism. Amy has been helping families whose children have neurodevelopmental differences like autism, ADHD, depression, and anxiety. Amy’s practice at CICS is an integrated delivery system, and she’s keenly interested in tools to help with self-regulation and safe, non-invasive innovations to complement and reduce dependence on prescription medications with unwanted side effects. 

Amy first tried the Apollo wearable for herself to deal with a high-stress work environment and found that it helped her to stay calm and focus for longer periods of time. As a unobtrusive, easy-to-use, and non-invasive device that is also fun for kids, Amy was enthused to test the Apollo wearable with neurodiverse pediatrics in her clinical practice.

The Design

Data were obtained from within a neurodevelopmental pediatrics clinic from 15 patients aged 7 to 17 across a breadth of diagnostic categories, like mood and anxiety disorders, as well as impulse control, autism, and ADHD. Observations from clinicians, parents, and the patients, were documented before and after using the Apollo wearable during a typical therapy session. The purpose of this study was to evaluate initial clinical performance of the device in different patient populations but to not make any claims regarding the ability of the device to treat symptoms tied to the underlying disorder.

The Outcomes

Preliminary Outcome: The Apollo wearable showed measurable improvements in mood, behavior, engagement, and stress reduction within minutes in all participants.

Mood and Behavior

• 100% of patients showed improvements

Stress Reduction

• Pre-intervention Stress Scores rated at 6 out of 10 or greater for all patients
• Post-intervention anxiety dropped by 50% for 14 out of 15 patients
• Reduction in anxiety in 5 out of 6 patients tested with a history of clinical anxiety disorder

Engagement

• Improvement in Engagement Scores in 9 out of 10 patients

The Feedback

The numbers are great – but the reactions of patients and their families were equally exciting.  

From the patients:

• “This helped me sit still for the entire time!”
• “I wish I could wear this everywhere I go…” 
• “I’ve never felt this calm before in my whole life…”

From the parents:

• “I was surprised at how quickly I saw a change in energy level and anxiety!”
• “We’re thrilled to have options in addition to medication!”

From the clinicians:

• “I had no idea what to expect, the results on energy and anxiety were amazing!”
• “I saw a level of engagement with the child I had not seen before.  I’ve been treating this child for two years!”

Three therapists independently validating the Apollo wearable in-session with children with treatment-resistant ADHD, Autism Spectrum Disorder, and anxiety disorders reported that the Apollo device use in therapy significantly increased feelings of calm, eye contact, and functional engagement in the psychotherapy process.

The Apollo Neuro team has been thrilled to work with Amy Edgar in a pediatric context. The results are incredibly promising for parents and kids with neurodevelopmental challenges. Within the study population of 15 pediatric patients (age 7-17) with diagnostic categories, like mood and anxiety disorders, as well as impulse control, autism, and ADHD, benefits were noted in the following categories: mood and behavior, stress reduction, and engagement.   

“We don’t often get things that are both powerful and helpful and don’t have a downside. Apollo is so easy. For us, Apollo will be the intervention of first choice.”

Amy Edgar, APRN, CRNP, FNP-C