Rapidly expanding digital health company broadens its brain health assessment portfolio.
Linus Health, a Boston-based digital health company focused on brain health, today announced the completion of its acquisition of Kinesis Health Technologies, a Dublin-based leader in physical function assessment for older adults.
Cutting-edge machine learning
The two companies share a focus on utilising cutting-edge machine learning and widely accessible digital devices to make proactive health screening more practical and prevalent.
Given the established relationship between physical function and brain function, the acquisition will further Linus Health’s ability to generate a robust view of an individual’s brain health to facilitate early detection of issues.
Dr Barry Greene, left, and Seamus Small, Kinesis Health Technologies. Photo: Nick Bradshaw, Fotonic
Founded in 2013 as a spin-out from University College Dublin (UCD), Kinesis has grown to offer a suite of objective, evidence-based tools for assessing gait, balance, mobility, falls risk, and frailty.
The company has built a robust validation base with over 70 peer-reviewed publications and a network of research partnerships around the world. Its customers – spanning numerous countries, including the US, Canada, the UK, and Ireland – have conducted more than 40,000 patient assessments to date with Kinesis’ technology.
With recent innovation centered on smartphone solutions, Kinesis’ approach aligns well with Linus Health’s dedication to developing validated and accessible assessment solutions to maximise its global impact on brain health outcomes.
“Kinesis shares Linus Health’s vision of combining clinical expertise with machine learning to usher in a new paradigm of proactive screening and intervention to support older adults seeking to preserve their health and way of life,” said Seamus Small, CEO of Kinesis. “We’re excited to join the Linus team and work together to bring effective and impactful digital screening solutions to more people around the world.”
Subtle indicators of cognitive and brain dysfunction
Linus Health’s suite of assessments already incorporates multiple modalities shown to play a role in revealing subtle indicators of cognitive and brain dysfunction. As the company expands its brain health platform, deepening its capabilities around physical measures, such as gait and balance, is a key step in augmenting the insights available to inform both its brain health analyses and recommendations.
“The more we can uncover about a person’s brain health, the faster we’ll be able to help providers intervene when something is awry,” said David Bates, PhD, CEO of Linus Health.
“Acquiring Kinesis provides the opportunity to accelerate our progress in the key areas of gait, balance, and mobility – and garner related insights to shape our understanding of a patient's health and associated risks to better inform our clinical guidance and care plan recommendations. We’re looking forward to collaborating with the Kinesis team to enhance our combined impact.”
Kinesis will operate as a subsidiary of Linus Health. CEO of Kinesis, Seamus Small, will assume the position of Managing Director, Kinesis. Co-Founder, Barry Greene, PhD, will retain the position of Chief Technology Officer, Kinesis.