Beats Medical Timeline

A look into the history of Beats Medical, the achievements we have hit along our journey to provide clinically proven allied health therapies, at home via smartphones, putting people with neurological conditions at the center of their own care, giving them the tools to manage their symptoms independently and with confidence.

2012 – Beats Medical was founded in 2012 by Dr. Ciara Clancy and Dr. Wui-Mei Chew. While working as a physiotherapist, Dr. Clancy recognized the enormous potential allied health therapy could have on the everyday lives of people with Parkinson’s. However, Dr. Clancy realized that one-to-one, there was only so much a physiotherapist could do. So, joining up with Dr. Wui-Mei, who specializes in inter molecular medicine, Beats Medical was created to bring these previously inaccessible therapies out of the hospital setting and into the homes of the more than 10 million people with Parkinson’s around the world.

2015 – After years of extensive research, investigating over 50 years of clinical research, the Beats Medical Parkinson’s service was launched. Initially offering just metronome therapy (a daily, tailored beat to help to practice and improving the quality of walking) the Beats Medical service was rapidly adopted.

2016 – In early 2016, having received detailed feedback from users of the service, Beats Medical launched additional therapies for some of the common speech and dexterity symptoms of Parkinson’s. These additional therapies, based on commonly used treatments, help people with Parkinson’s to practice speaking louder and clearer or to practice the fine hand movements needed for everyday tasks like handwriting, working zippers, fastening buttons, and taking medication out of its packaging.

2017 – The Beats Medical Parkinson’s Service technology achieved classification as a Class 1 medical device. Our patent and CE marks were also both issued. This means that we have been regulated as a safe medical technology for people with Parkinson’s, and is a badge of merit which distinguishes clinically proven therapies from other basic apps.

2018 – The Beats Medical Parkinson’s Service has grown from strength to strength. We now support people with Parkinson’s in over 40 countries around the world daily. In July of 2018, Beats Medical expanded its product offering with a new space-themed, gamified app for children who have Dyspraxia/ Developmental Coordination Disorder.

2019 – In a really exciting development, the Beats Medical Parkinson’s Service has become the first Parkinson’s-specific technology to feature in the Parkinson’s UK app and device library. The library is a collection of approved and tested technologies that have been deemed safe and useful by a panel of independent tests and users with Parkinson’s.