Abilitech Medical: Restoring Independence to Those Living with Upper Arm Weakness

Founded in 2016, Abilitech Medical, Inc. is a medical device company based in St Paul, Minnesota. Every day Abilitech Medical strives to create and build innovative solutions that restore function and independence to those affected by neuromuscular conditions such as multiple sclerosis, spinal muscular atrophy, spinal cord injury, Duchenne muscular dystrophy, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and brachial plexus injury. These conditions rob patients of their physical strength, independence and ability to actively engage with their friends and family. Abilitech Medical is here to help them.

The company's goal is to empower those who live with neuromuscular arm weakness by restoring their independence and improving their quality of life.

The Abilitech Assist device is a one-of-a-kind wearable assistive device that supports patients with upper-limb weakness or injury in completing essential activities of daily living. The lightweight, comfortable and easy-to-use device enables patients to use their own strength to move their arms.

It was introduced in the U.S. last year, is the first and only powered orthotic device to include assistance at the elbow and the shoulder. The externally worn product uses a combination of custom-calibrated springs, motors and firmware to provide functional independence to patients who have lost movement of their arms. It can help users lift objects up to 12 ounces and supports range of motion at the shoulder and elbow.

"Abilitech Medical’s powered orthotic has the potential to help me regain the ability to manipulate a computer mouse and, even more importantly, regain the independence and dignity that comes with being able to feed myself," said Erika, a patient with Multiple Sclerosis.

In 2022, Abilitech announced it has been issued a Medical Device Establishment License (MDEL) from Health Canada (License Number 18519). The commercial license allows Canadian patients to obtain Abilitech’s proprietary medical device, the Abilitech Assist. It also sanctions Abilitech to work with medical device partners within Canada.

"We're proud to have entered the Canadian marketplace, effectively immediately," said Angie Conley, founder and CEO of Abilitech Medical. "There are many individuals with Spinal Cord Injuries, Muscular Dystrophy, Multiple Sclerosis and other neuromuscular disorders who will benefit from our assistive technology, and are anxious to perform daily activities like eating, brushing teeth and opening doors."

"The Abilitech Assist device is a one-of-a-kind wearable assistive device that supports patients with upper-limb weakness or injury in completing essential activities of daily living."

The Future

The Abilitech team has received significant grant awards to develop future products including the Abilitech Grip and Abilitech APEX. The company's clinical and academic partnerships are mission-critical for them to bring innovative new products to market.

The Abilitech™ Grip device is a powered hand orthosis that is designed to enable users with hand impairments to overcome activity limitations and perform activities of daily living. The solution will include an intuitive user control interface to allow for actuation of the fingers and thumbs in preferred grip patterns.

On the other hand, the Abilitech™ APEX is a powered upper extremity orthosis that is designed to enable users with arm impairments to overcome activity limitations and perform activities of daily living.

About the Leader

Angie Zavoral Conley, Founder, President and CEO

Angie Zavoral Conley has served as Abilitech’s President and Chief Executive Officer since founding the company in late 2016.  Under Angie’s leadership, Abilitech Medical has won numerous awards, including both the Tekne Award for innovation from Minnesota High Tech Association and the Grand Prize and Top Woman-led Business at the Minnesota Cup - the largest state-led business competition. Abilitech has also been recognized as a Top 10 Medical Device Startup by MedTech Outlook; a Top 20 Medical Device Startup You Need to Know by MassDevice magazine; and a Top Promising Life Science Company by Rice University. In her role as President and CEO of Abilitech, Angie has raised over ten million in equity funding and nearly two million dollars in non-dilutive funding.

Angie Conley’s broad work experience in the medical device industry directly translates to her role as CEO of Abilitech Medical. Prior to founding Abilitech, Angie held leadership roles in several different medical device companies, including working with exoskeletons at Magic Arms; peripheral and neurovascular atherectomy devices at ev3/Covidien; heart valves, instruments, telemonitoring equipment, external and implantable pacemakers and defibrillators at Medtronic. She is an alumna of the prestigious Springboard Enterprise and Texas Medical Center accelerator programs. Angie Conley is named as an inventor on two patents.

"Every day Abilitech Medical strives to create and build innovative solutions that restore function and independence to those affected by neuromuscular conditions such as multiple sclerosis, spinal muscular atrophy, spinal cord injury, Duchenne muscular dystrophy, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and brachial plexus injury."

"In 2022, Abilitech announced it has been issued a Medical Device Establishment License (MDEL) from Health Canada (License Number 18519)."