ATLANTA, GA — August 18, 2025 — Low back pain affects 60% of Americans annually and contributes more than $200 billion to healthcare costs. A study this week in Frontiers in Pain Research offers hope, as a novel wearable both prevented and restored function for the most severe patients with chronic pain. 

“Injuries, degenerative disease, and posture can all cause spinal muscle dysfunction and pain,” explained Amy Baxter MD, lead investigator and clinical Professor at Augusta University.

ATLANTA, GA — July 10, 2025 — A landmark randomized controlled trial funded by the National Institutes of Health found that a multimodal mechanical stimulation (M-Stim®) device, DuoTherm™,  prevented new opioid prescribing and reduced opioid use in patients seeking treatment for moderate-to-severe low back pain. The peer-reviewed paper marks a pivotal moment in the fight against the opioid epidemic.

“Pain is overwhelming. Studies show combining temperature, pressure, and vibration improves coping and reduces pain. We also included frequencies shown to improve movement and blood flow, aiming to not only improve self-efficacy but also recovery,” noted Dr. Amy Baxter, lead investigator and CEO of Harmonic Scientific LLC. 

BOSTON, MA — June 6, 2025 — A recent study presented at Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital’s PM&R Research & Education Day introduced a novel physiologic framework for understanding and treating chronic low back pain.

Drawing from over 20 years of pain research, Dr. Amy Baxter presented findings from her NIH-funded randomized controlled trial to prevent opioid prescribing through low back pain relief. 

“We anticipated a vibration wearable with thermal options would stop transmission of pain through neuromodulation, and give patients options to reduce their opioid use,” noted Baxter, whose previous invention, Buzzy, uses this mechanism for needle pain relief. She continued, “When a few subjects’ pain abruptly resolved, they’d start twisting, testing for pain. We suspected our treatment released something mechanical that was trapping the nerves.”

ATLANTA, GA — April 26, 2023 — Low back pain impacts 80% of adults and is the most common cause of missed workdays and disability globally in 2016. The most invasive and expensive intervention, spinal cord stimulation, was dealt a blow in March. A Cochrane review, the most rigorous type of scientific analysis, found the procedure no better than placebo. A new study published on April 26, 2023, offers a potential direction for non-surgical relief.