Cortez company Arcturus Star Products might not be a well-known name in the surrounding area, but medical researchers in Australia are finding promising results in ongoing clinical trials for one of the companys instruments that may help women with post-mastectomy arm lymphedema.
Lymphedema is a condition that often results from cancer surgery and radiation known as secondary lymphedema, but there is also primary lymphedema, which occurs due to a failure of the lymphatic system as early as birth. It causes uncomfortable swelling, primarily in limbs, and can be extremely debilitating, according to a statement released by Arcturus Star Products.
Lori and Steve Sweet own Arcturus Star Products. They moved their company to Cortez from Michigan 12 years ago. Lori acts as company chief executive officer and sales director. Steve, the manufacturing manager, and his staff in Cortez hand-fabricate the electronics and other components, finishing the products entirely on site in a renovated barn situated on County Road F.
The technology used in their lymphatic therapy products is based on concepts using low energy electrical fields. It has been shown in research to be able to establish movement and improved flow within the lymph circulation, according to Lori Sweet.
Our scientific medical consultant is a Texas professor and he said that this particular energy tends to stimulate the sympathetic nerves that are around the lymph vessels and just kind of pulse them. So (the Arcturus Star equipment) is creating a little electrical charge to help pulse that, said Lori Sweet.
The Sweets had personal experience in how important it is to utilize all available healing modalities when their son, Nathan, was diagnosed with leukemia when he was 8 years old. Nathan received treatment at St. Judes Childrens Research Hospital, along with nontraditional treatment and today is a healthy 35-year-old. Lori Sweet said thats why they began their business in the field of vibrational energy technology and dreamed of one day helping cancer sufferers too.
The Sweets are on the verge of that now with the study being conducted at Flinders University in Adelaide, Australia, for the medical study version of their Lymphstar Pro vibrational massage instrument. The study came about when Arcturus Star Products Lymphatic Enhancement Technology trainer, Desiree DeSpong, found that the lymphatic therapy equipment was helping women in her clinics in New Zealand, who had gone through a mastectomy, find a better range of motion with their arms. DeSpong won a grant for a visiting fellowship with prominent Australian researcher Professor Neil Piller at the university. The first phase of the clinical trial was completed in December, and the subjective information was found to be excellent. Data is being analyzed, and another phase of the study is scheduled for April of this year, Lori Sweet said.
We work with a very prominent breast surgeon in Pennsylvania, Dr. Beth Dupree. she said. We have spoken with her, and shes very interested in promoting this as we go along to the medical end. Shes a surgeon, and she tries to preserve as much tissue (as she can when performing breast cancer surgery), but when youre thinking cancer survivor (doctors) are in a difficult dance. They want to save your life. Some surgeons might be too aggressive and take gobs of tissue out, and a year later the patient cant move her arm. Its swollen. Its twice the size maybe. And youre like, Oh my god, I survived cancer to have this disability.
Data from the Australian study will eventually be published in a medical journal and will hopefully be cleared by Australias Therapeutic Goods Association (similar to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration) for use as a medical device. The Sweets foresee an approved medical device in their future and are developing a system similar to the Lymphstar Pro. The system, called ISO 13485, is for medical device manufacturing. The Sweets have joined the Colorado Bioscience Association, as well as taken courses in FDA regulatory affairs.
Lori Sweet said many Arcturus Lymphstar pro instruments are being used in the United States by naturopathic doctors, massage therapists, chiropractors, wellness centers, estheticians, as well as in physical and occupational therapy to improve flow within the lymph circulation. The company also fulfills orders for products worldwide.
DeSpong will travel from New Zealand to teach four seminars in Cortez this year for lymphatic therapists on how to use the Arcturus Lymphstar Products. The first seminar will be held March 21-24 at Arcturus facility, and local therapists, as well as therapists nationwide and worldwide are welcome.
For more information on the company visit www.arcturusstar.com or call 564-5811.
Reach Paula Bostrom at paulab@cortezjournal.com.