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Neurotech Reports, the publisher of this newsletter, released a newly revised market research report detailing the implanted pain neuromodulation device industry. The report, titled The Market for Implanted Pain Neuromodulation Systems: 2023-2028, estimates that the total worldwide market for implanted pain neuromodulation systems will grow from $2.66 billion in 2023 to $5.88 billion in 2028. The new report breaks down the market by U.S.

One of the most significant advances in the implanted neuromodulation device space has been the integration of digital devices such as patient controllers and handheld tablets. Of all the competitors in this market, Abbott has been at the forefront of this trend. The company’s NeuroSphere myPath digital health offering, which works with both Apple iOS and Android devices, raised the bar for connecting SCS and DRG patients with their clinicians.

The quest to restore sight to those blinded one of the most technologically challenging applications of neuromodulation over the past few decades. Retinal stimulation devices, developed to assist those affected degeneration, translate visual data into electrical impulses. These signals, either initiated from mounted cameras or directly from microchips in the retina, are conveyed to the brain, helping patients discern patterns of light and darkness, which with training, translates into meaningful imagery.

Earlier this year, the number of patients implanted with sacral nerve stimulation devices reached 400,000, including more than 380,000 patients implanted with Medtronic’s InterStim system and more than 20,000 implanted with Axonics’ SNM devices. Reaching this milestone provides us with an occasion to reflect on safety of SNS devices. As analyzed in a recent review, since 2016, there has been a stea…

In the time that has transpired since the medical device industry mourned the loss of the Medicare Coverage of Innovative Technology program, more than a handful of neurotech companies, including many startup firms, have felt the pain. After being promised they would qualify for at least four years of CMS coverage once they got FDA approval, recipients of breakthrough device designation found out that was just a cruel ruse when CMS pulled the plug on the MCIT program.

One of the earliest researchers to explore therapeutic applications of implanted brain-computer interfaces, Phil Kennedy, founder of Neural Signals, Inc., announced that his firm has entered into a joint-venture relationship to market a BCI system. The new firm, called Neural Logistics LLC, is joint venture between Neural Signals and a public firm called DarkPulse, Inc. Neural Logistics is seeking…

Among all the neurological and neuromuscular diseases and disorders, cerebral palsy represents a significant untapped potential for neurotech vendors. Although the Bioness L300 system received FDA clearance for treating foot-drop in children with CP in 2013, there have been few neurotech approaches to treat the underlying cause. CP is the most common of all childhood disabilities, with about 500,000 children and more than 250,000 adults in the U.S.

Apple Inc. has long been interested in developing wellness capabilities for their wearable devices, such as ECG and glucose monitoring in Apple Watch and EEG sensing for detection of cognitive states (based on EEG activity in the alpha frequency band) in AirPods. More recently, Apple’s interests started to expand toward developing medical devices for bioelectronic medicine disorders. One of their r…

It’s fashionable these days for business leaders to decry the role of government in their industry, and to be sure, there are many in the neurotechnology industry who could point to seemingly senseless regulatory decisions and policies that have been harmful to growth. But there can be no denying that the U.S. neurotechnology industry has also been the recipient of government largess over the years, when you consider the amount of funding that has been available from agencies such as the NIH, DARPA, and the VA.

In recent months, an number of firms in the neurorehabilitation space have offered new therapies helping stroke patients recover. But while there has been significant activity in the neurovascular space, there have been few neuromodulation approaches to treating the cerebrovascular causes of stroke. About 20 years ago, a California firm called PhotoThera sought to market a laser stimulation system that delivered pulses of near-infrared laser energy through the skull to selected portions of the brain.