Reclaim a novel telehealth treatment for acquired brain injury

The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke awarded Posit Science Corporation $1,048,180 on August 15, 2026, under the Extramural Research Programs in the Neurosciences and Neurological Disorders program (CFDA 93.853) to develop and commercialize a telehealth treatment platform for spatial neglect syndrome (hemineglect) following acquired brain injury.

The project delivers three integrated products: FDA clearance for a novel diagnostic assessment tool for hemineglect to be deployed on a commercially supported platform for rapid bedside detection; development of an integrated telehealth program incorporating the "Freeze Frame" cognitive control intervention, modeled on established telehealth programs in metabolic health and musculoskeletal rehabilitation; and remote coaching support including onboarding assistance, technical support, and motivational coaching to improve patient enrollment, initiation, and completion of the intervention. The work builds on prior published randomized controlled trial results demonstrating that Freeze Frame produces significant improvements in attention and cognitive control that extend to real-world functional capacity.

Performance occurs in San Francisco, California, with a period of performance through July 31, 2028. The award targets a patient population of several million individuals with chronic hemineglect stemming from traumatic brain injury or stroke for whom existing treatment options remain limited.

Abstract

Deficits associated with the spatial neglect syndrome (or "hemineglect") have been substantially untreatable and remain a primary and chronic medical condition for several million individuals suffering from acquired brain injury (ABI) including traumatic brain injury and stroke. Our own studies were among the first to demonstrate the potential of a cognitive control intervention referred to as "freeze frame" to improve the primary deficits in chronic hemineglect: lateralized attentional bias and poorly sustained attention. The results of the published response randomized controlled trial provided definitive evidence regarding the efficacy of this novel intervention to produce significant benefits in attention and cognitive control that also extended to improvements in real-world functional capacity. Building on these prior positive results, we aim to 1) gain FDA clearance for a novel diagnostic assessment for hemineglect employed in the response trial that will make this available to clinicians as a standardized, FDA-cleared diagnostic on a commercially supported platform, allowing clinicians to diagnose chronic hemineglect in accordance with current consensus recommendations for rapid bedside detection of hemineglect in real‐world clinical environments. Additionally, we aim to develop an integrated telehealth program that improves access, delivery and support for the freeze frame intervention to ensure that providers have a clear path to treatment and that patients, once enrolled, successfully initiate and complete the intervention. The program will be modeled on successful telehealth programs from virta (metabolic health, type II diabetes management) and hinge (musculoskeletal health, joint rehabilitation) that incorporate a proven digital health program with a remote telehealth coach, who provides onboarding assistance, technical support, and motivational coaching. At the conclusion of the proposed phase IIB project, we will have established a first-of-its-kind telehealth treatment for neglect rehabilitation, allowing clinicians to refer patients located anywhere in the country for effective treatment of this common and life-altering condition.