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Neuromodulation researchers have looked at a number of noninvasive brain stimulation technologies as potential alternatives to DBS. The problem with approaches like TMS, tDCS, and tACS is the lack of specificity of brain targets. Recently, investigators at two U.S. institutions have reported novel ways of delivering ultrasound energy to the brain in a highly targeted manner. A multidisciplinary team at Washington University in St.

Neurotech Reports, in conjunction with the International Neuromodulation Society, is pleased to announce the introduction of our online database of neuromodulation products. This exclusive and comprehensive service is available to members of the International Neuromodulation Society and subscribers to Neurotech Reports. Now, for the first time, vendors of neuromodulation products can reach clinicians and investigators via the INS website and vendors through the Neurotech Reports website.

When Neurotech Reports began operations in 2001, the Internet had only been around a few years and the e-commerce industry was still in its infancy. Though we believed at the time that consumer and computer applications of neurotechnology would soon emerge (and we highlighted one early vendor in our first issue), we could not have predicted that three pioneers in the payment-processing industry would become major individual funders of neurotech firms.

Brain-on-a-Chip Technology Aids CNS Drug Discovery , senior technical editor Testing drugs that may have effects on neurons and brain circuits has typically required extensive in vivo experimentation in animals. Although in vitro testing on dissociated or cultured neurons offers an alternative to in vivo testing, these preparations lack the connections that occur within brain circuits, and single cells provide an incomplete picture of the effects of experimental compounds on the nervous system.

Two emerging neurotechnology firms have recently reported progress developing new therapies for stroke rehabilitation. But the two firms are using markedly different approaches. Neurolutions, Inc., a St. Loius, MO area startup, announced that the FDA granted de Novo market approval for its IpsiHand upper extremity rehabilitation system. The device has been cleared for use in chronic stroke patients to facilitate muscle re-education through its novel BCI platform.

Like most other segments of the medical device industry, the neurotech industry depends heavily on reimbursement from private and public payers. While there are some categories of noninvasive devices that are priced low enough for end users to pay out of pocket, for most implanted devices, a neurotech therapy has little chance of commercial success without a favorable coverage decision and Medicaid Services.

president & CEO, Patient’s Academy for Research Advocacy March 2021 issue The allure of a pay-per-dose revenue model for neuromodulation therapies is easy to understand—especially for therapies that will compete directly with drugs for payers’ and patients’ healthcare dollars. Proponents of the approach expect that collecting billing for a device up front will speed up patient access, smooth the path to reimbursement, and make cost-effectiveness comparisons with drugs more fair.

NeuroPace Inc., the Mountain View, CA manufacturer of neuromodulation devices, has made its name in the industry by pioneering a closed-loop intracortical device for the treatment of epilepsy. As the company prepares for an impending IPO, it will takes its place among two other publicly traded manufacturers of implanted devices to treat epilepsy: Medtronic and LivaNova. Depending on its success in…

Neurotech Reports, the publisher of Neurotech Business Report, announced that Murthy Simhambhatla, the president and CEO of SetPoint Medical, will keynote the Fourth Annual Bioelectric Medicine Forum on April 6, 2021. The event will take place via video conference, though Neurotech Reports plans to be back in New York City in 2022. Simhambhatla took the helm of the Valencia, CA bioelectronic medicine firm in August 2018.

As the neuromodulation industry begins to recover from a crippling pandemic that seriously impacted the number of procedures performed in 2020, it is worth reflecting on another scourge that impacted our nation last year. We’re referring to the growing incidence of racism and discrimination that came to a head in several high-profile incidents. A newly published article in the journal Neuromodulati…