BCI Madness
While much of the world is currently focused on World Cup matches and a few months before Americans become enmeshed in NCAA Basketball, the neurotechnology industry seems to be fascinated with the fierce competition among firms developing brain-computer interfaces. Much of the current media frenzy on this subject no doubt stems from the role Elon Musk’s Neuralink startup is playing, given the current attention he has drawn from his antics while taking over Twitter.
MedTech Executives Discuss Issues at DeviceTalks West Conference in Santa Clara
Executives from west coast medical device firms assembled in Santa Clara, CA earlier this month for the DeviceTalks West Conference. The two-day event was produced of MassDevice, Medical Design & Outsourcing magazine, and other healthcare industry publications. On the first day, Action Potential VC partner Juan-Pablo Mas spoke on a panel devoted to investment. Brett Wall, president of Medtronic’s neuroscience portfolio, gave a keynote talk on the second day.
CMS Payment Decisions Confound Neuromod Vendors
Manufacturers of noninvasive neuromodulation systems have experienced their share of ups and downs on the reimbursement front in recent months. While some vendors of wearable headsets and other surface stimulation systems survive on customers who pay out of pocket or on private insurers, most neurotech healthcare firms depend heavily on reimbursement from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
Medtronic Spins Off Unit that Markets BIS Brain Analysis System
Medtronic plc, the Minneapolis, MN manufacturer of neuromodulation systems, announced its intention to pursue a separation of the company’s patient monitoring and respiratory interventions businesses, which are part of the company’s Medical Surgical Portfolio. The as-yet unnamed spinoff will include the BIS monitoring system, which measures depth of consciousness in the operating room. Medtronic obtained the BIS product line in its merger with Covidien in 2014.
European Effort Seeks to Enhance Upper-Extremity FES
and James Cavuoto, editor October 2022 issue The market for treating upper-extremity paralysis caused injury has been a difficult one for neurotechnology vendors to crack. In the early 2000s, an Ohio company called NeuroControl developed an implanted hand-grasp stimulator called Freehand that restored hand function to hundreds of quadriplegics before that company closed its doors, largely for financial reasons.
Panelists and Presenters Added to Neurotech Leaders Forum Agenda
Neurotech Reports, the publisher of the Neurotech Business Report newsletter, announced that 12 promising neurotechnology startups and early-stage firms will present at the 2022 Neurotech Leaders Forum in San Francisco, November 7-8. The 22nd annual event—the most established in the industry—will also feature presentations and panel discussions on important issues confronting the neurotechnology industry.
Neurotechnology and Human Rights
As we’ve written in this space in the past, the neurotechnology industry will need to be increasingly cognizant of the ethical issues surrounding neurotech devices. This issue became more pronounced this month when the United Nations Human Rights Council adopted a draft resolution on neurotechnology and human rights. The draft resolution was submitted by Greece, Chile, and Singapore and adopted without a vote.
Neurotech Pioneers Interact with Public at National Academies BCI Workshop
Several neurotechnology researchers and entrepreneurs who were instrumental in the development of the industry participated in an intensive online workshop devoted to brain-computer interfaces and related technologies earlier this month. The two-day event, titled “Brain-Machine and Related Neural Interface Technologies: Scientific, Technical, Ethical, and Regulatory Issues,” was organized and Global Affairs Division.
European Consortium to Develop Fully Implantable BCI
In recent months, the market for implanted brain-computer interfaces has intensified as commercial efforts from firms such as Synchron, Neuralink, and Paradromics seek to challenge the early market leader Blackrock Neurotech. Now, a European effort funded , may produce another competitor in this space. A research consortium led Center in the Netherlands in collaboration with Graz University of Tech…
Immune response neuromodulation may not require VNS
Neural regulation of immunity is not a new idea. Way back in 2000, Kevin Tracey and colleagues published their findings about the effects of efferent vagus nerve signaling and its role in modulating inflammation. The investigators showed that lethal endotoxaemia in rats could be inhibited the vagus. The researchers saw inhibited TNF synthesis in the liver, attenuated peak serum TNF amounts, and prevention in the development of shock.