Charco
I joined Charco Neurotech as an early team member and Product Manager for CUE1, a wearable device for people with Parkinson’s. I took it from early prototype to mass production, working across research, design, manufacturing and clinical testing, and was later promoted to Regional Manager to build our business in Korea. Along the way, CUE1 won an iF Design Award 2023 and we raised a $10M seed round.
Understanding the science
CUE1 is inspired by the 19th-century neurologist Jean-Martin Charcot. Charcot noticed that his Parkinson’s patients moved more easily after long carriage and train rides, and built a vibrating chair to recreate the effect. CUE1 puts the same idea into a small device worn on the sternum, using focused vibration to help with stiffness and movement.
Shaping an approachable medical device
When I joined, CUE1 was an early prototype. My job was to turn it into a product people could actually live with. Many people with Parkinson’s have tremor and limited dexterity, so every interaction had to work with shaky hands. I ran interviews and home visits across the UK to see how people would charge, attach and carry the device, and turned what we learned into the final design: one case that holds the device, patches and charger, a twist-to-attach patch, and a single LED ring whose colors show battery, Bluetooth and medication alerts. I then worked with our manufacturing partners to take that design into mass production.
Bridging device and app experience
The companion app lets users adjust vibration settings and track symptoms over time. The hard part was balance: clinicians wanted detailed data, but many users weren’t comfortable with smartphones. So I kept the essentials on the device itself. The LED ring shows battery, Bluetooth connection and medication reminders without opening the app, while the app handles personal vibration settings and symptom tracking for those who want it. The goal was a device people could use without the app, and an app that made the device better when they did.
Validating through real-world testing
Before formal clinical trials, I led three user studies and co-authored the reports.
Charco-Stappone User Testing: With Stappone, an Austrian insole sensor company, we measured gait in 5 people with Parkinson’s using CUE1, tracking peak heel pressure, double support time and gait symmetry. The results shaped the design of later studies.
MDS-UPDRS & Usability Study: 14 participants across disease stages showed a mean 9.3-point improvement in MDS-UPDRS motor scores, along with better Timed Up and Go and tapping results. The study also surfaced usability problems in both the device and the app, which we fixed in the next version.
Beta CUE1 Long-Term Home Study: 8 participants used CUE1 daily for over 13 months and reported improvements in gait, speed, stiffness, tremor and confidence. Their diaries led to changes in stimulation settings and long-term usability.
Collaborating across borders
I led our work with CROs, manufacturers, testing labs and hospitals across the UK and Korea. After my promotion to Regional Manager, I set up Charco’s Korean entity, secured local regulatory approvals and built partnerships with Korean hospitals and companies.
Impact and reflection
CUE1 won an iF Design Award in 2023, and we closed a $10M seed round, backed by the user and clinical evidence our team had built. The biggest lesson from Charco: in healthcare, the person who uses the product is rarely the only one who decides. Patients, caregivers, clinicians and regulators all had to say yes. CUE1 worked because it was simple enough for patients with shaky hands, and backed by enough evidence for clinicians and regulators to trust it.
