Encora Therapeutics, which develops a wrist-worn device for essential tremor, grew out of a project in the 2.009 product design class at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). In February 2026, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) cleared the device to help adults with the condition, which causes tremors mainly in the hands.
The idea came about in 2017, when a group of final-year students built a prototype in a cardboard box with a small Raspberry Pi computer. At the final presentation, a man with early-onset Parkinson’s drew a spiral far more accurately with the device switched on and said he felt as he had before the disease.
The device applies mechanical vibration to receptors in the wrist, which send signals through the peripheral nerves to the same brain regions targeted by surgery. In trials carried out in 2024 and 2025, with 47 and 59 participants, more than 70% of patients showed significant improvement.
The company, formally founded in 2020 by alumni including Daniel Carballo, Allison Davanzo and Kyle Pina, is now building a national sales team and seeking insurance coverage. In future, it hopes also to treat tremors associated with Parkinson’s.
