105346Path Finder: A Health Economics Evaluation of Visual Cues as a means to Reduce Falls in Parkinson'sClosedCollaborative R&DInnovate UKEvery year the NHS spends around £2.3 billion on falls. Falls are due to a variety of reasons including neurological conditions such as Parkinson's disease. A symptom of Parkinson's called 'freezing' causes sufferers to suddenly feel as if glued to the floor and unable to move. This often happens mid walk and is a major cause for instability and falls, leading to up to 70% of falls in Parkinson's. Falls can lead to serious injuries such as hip fractures, or in some cases they may even cause death. Path Finder reduces the time spent freezing as well as how often a person freezes, by projecting visual cues. The device hooks over the users shoes and projects a green laser line in front of each opposing foot. This triggers walking and helps the user to walk more fluidly and independently. Our proposed project will begin to assess the clinical cost effectiveness of the device in the NHS. We will commence with a small scale study in a NHS hospital to start gathering data to support the cost effectiveness of the device. We will then work with NICE to critically analyse our evidence to date. This will be used to help plan our route to sell into the NHS. Path Finder has been on the market throughout the European Economic Area (EEA) since June 2017. We sell mainly directly to customers and through some distributors. Selling into healthcare systems such as the NHS, however, will be our biggest source of revenue. Currently, healthcare systems such as the NHS do not have a single good solution to falls and freezing in Parkinson's disease. Walking canes and frames are used for support, but they can be bulky, making them hard to maneuver when freezing and when in the home (where freezing most often occurs). Physiotherapy is also used, and although it can be effective, it carries a 70% non-compliance rate, meaning that people do not do their exercises. As such, it becomes an expensive and ineffective solution. Path Finder offers a new method to alleviate a specific symptom in Parkinson's disease, which has been demonstrated to cause the majority of falls for this population. As such, Path Finder holds great promise in reducing falls and the human and economic costs that follow.