MMS Activates People. 

MATRIX MUSCLE SUPPORT Technologies provide optimized solutions to use electrical stimulation in healthcare, rehabilitation, gaming, sports and in so called exoskeletons.

  • MMS product “The Matrix-system” can eg. be used to counteract the worldwide growing health problems associated with physical inactivity. The overall goal is to offer better human performance and healthier life by on-demand improving human muscle abilities.

MMS provides its customers with two solutions: 

1) Licensing of enabling techniques for optimized human electrical stimulation

2) “The Matrix-system” for prevention of the worldwide growing health problems associated with physical inactivity

TECHNOLOGY and BUSINESS MODEL

  • Electrical stimulation is an emerging technology that is increasingly being used as an alternative/complement to exercise and rehabilitation and which can even make spinal cord injured patients move their limbs. The technology can also amplify muscle movements in so-called "exoskeletons". Electrical stimulation, done correctly, can solve many medical problems such as reducing blood sugar levels, reducing the risk of blood clots, increasing fat burning, and reducing pain in patients.

    However, today's electrical stimulation is not optimal, partly because many people experience discomfort/pain with the stimulation and partly because they often do not know how to use NMES in a correct way, which leads to poor adherence to the treatment.

  • Medical immobilization (cast, immobilization, etc.) increases the risk of blood clots by over 500 times. In fact, over 50% of all people over 40 get a blood clot when immobilized after a tendon rupture or ankle fracture. But we don't have to go that far; sedentary work and lifestyle also increase the risk of blood clots. Every extra hour of sitting per day increases the risk of blood clots by 10%. "Sitting is the new smoking" according to the World Health Organization.

    The calf acts as the body's second heart. With every normal step you take, the calf muscle contracts and pumps the blood upwards. That's why it's so important to try to take at least 10,000 steps each day, preferably spread out throughout the day, to keep the blood flowing. When immobilized or sitting still, the calf muscle pump does not work.

    Passive measures, such as compression stockings, have limited blood clot prevention effect, or no effect at all on increasing blood flow. Even external pump machines that compress the muscles have been shown to have limited effect in everyday life because they are difficult to carry around.

    However, the calf muscle can be made to contract itself with the help of a small electrical impulse which increases the blood flow in the knee fold by over 300% according to Dr. Paul Ackermann's research.

  • MMS's patented precision method is based on a matrix of electrode surfaces placed over the relevant area. A weak voltage scans all possible electrode combinations and searches for a response. If no response is triggered, the current is increased and the procedure is repeated, until a combination finally triggers a response. In this way, we have now both identified the most effective motor point combination at the moment - and at what intesity the subsequent electrical stimulation could be based on.

  • We have developed a method and product that 1.) identifies the lack of physical activity, 2.) searches the relevant area for the most efficient and comfortable motor points and 3.) Stimulates exactly where it gives the most effect with the least current.

    This product, that we call “The Matrix-system”, is composed of a 1. Matrix garment, 2. Matrix patch, 3. Matrix control unit, 4. Matrix smartphone application, and 5. Matrix cloud storage. In the future, data collected in the cloud will be analysed with AI to enable the Matrix-system to predict adverse events so that the user and health care system can be warned before adverse events occur (e.g. blood clots).

HISTORY

MMS is a Med-Tech company founded 2021 in response to the growing need for better solutions to counteract the negative consequences of physical inactivity.

With a background of more than 20 years of research at Karolinska Institutet and Karolinska University Hospital in Stockholm, Sweden, MMS technologies have evolved to solve the problems of immobility and how to improve lower limb blood flow as to reduce the risk of blood clotting.

  • In 1997 Orthopedic surgeon and Professor Paul Ackermann started his research on how the nervous system regulates vital functions, such as pain, healing and blood flow, in the human body. Dr. Ackermann 2005 found that non-pharmacological blood clot prophylaxis using intermittent pneumatic compressions (IPC) devices increased blood flow through activation of the nervous system. In 2015 he found IPC to prevent blood clots in patients outside the hospital. However, the non-mobile configuration, including a noisy compressor, rendered the compliance to the IPC devices to be very low outside of the hospitals. Because of all this, Dr. Ackermann 2015 started research on neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES), which at the time also was hampered by non-mobile devices as well as treatment-discomfort, but which had the potential for further miniaturization and integration into garments that could be worn every day for maximal compliance.

  • In 2019-2020 Drs. Robin Juthberg and Johanna Flodin started their PhD studies with Dr. Ackermann as their supervisor, and together the team acknowledged the importance of using so called motor points on the skin to enable energy efficient and comfortable NMES. At the time, motor point searches could only be conducted by trained personal with special equipment. The team started researching the possibility for an automated motor point search, and in the fall of 2020 a proof-of-concept prototype was presented to Karolinska Institutet (KI) Innovations, which granted support to file a patent-application for the invention.

  • With the support of KI Innovations, in the fall of 2021, the company Matrix Muscle Support AB/Ltd. (MMS) was founded. The same year, one patient who unfortunately suffered a blood clot, contacted Dr. Ackermann to discuss the possibility of improving blood clot prophylaxis following lower limb injuries. The patient, Fredrik Magnusson who happened to be a CEO of an innovation company and the former global director of brand, design and experiences of Ericsson, got so intrigued that he decided to invest in MMS. Fredrik would later lead the development of the first “Matrix patch”, i.e. the interface that delivers the NMES treatment to the user.

MMS board is led by the co-founders Professor Paul W. Ackermann, MD, PhD, and Robin Juthberg, MD, PhD-stud, together with Johanna Flodin, MD, PhD-stud, and with the first investor Roderinno AB represented by Fredrik Magnusson, Innovator. Fredrik Magnusson is a patient turned investor, with the goal to improve the current prevention of blood clotting.

Our Team

Paul Ackermann
MD, PhD

is a Professor at Karolinska Institutet and orthopedic surgeon at Karolinska University Hospital, both in Stockholm, Sweden. He is a key opinion leader in blood clotting and rehabilitation.

Robin Juthberg
MD

is a PhD-student at Karolinska Institutet performing research on optimization of NMES treatment. He works with both basic- and clinical studies and investigates the regulatory requirements for NMES.

Johanna Flodin
MD

is a PhD-student at Karolinska Institutet performing research on optimization of NMES treatment. She works with both clinical- and basic studies and currently investigates the genetic regulation as well as the blot clot factors that are involved in NMES treatment.

Fredrik Magnusson
Innovator

is head of innovation at Roderinno AB, Innovator and prior Global director of brand design of Ericsson. Innovation development and brand design for MMS AB. Member of the MMS board. Works with design, IP- and marketing strategies for MMS.