News

The market for implanted pain neuromodulation devices is expected to rebound precipitously later this year and in subsequent years, according to a new market research report from the editors of Neurotech Reports. The report, entitled The Market for Pain Neuromodulation: 2021-2026 , offers a detailed forecast of implanted spinal cord stimulation systems and peripheral nerve stimulation systems. The…

The cochlear implant industry has experienced significant growth in the last 20 years, as industry leaders Cochlear Ltd., Advanced Bionics, and Medel have offered a steady stream of enhancements to their devices and sound processing algorithms. Still, the field has been limited somewhat auditory channels—increasing the number of electrodes doesn’t necessarily deliver a more robust frequency spectrum.

Over the last 20 years, one of the most promising, though one of the most challenging, applications of neurotechnology has been visual neuroprosthetics. The goal of restoring vision to blind people has attracted a wide array of researchers and entrepreneurs, and a relatively small though not insignificant amount of funding from investors, non-profit organizations, and government entities. Sadly, the path to commercialization in this area has been littered with casualties.

Neurotech researchers pursuing new therapies for treating mood disorders such as depression are increasingly looking toward personalized therapies to help patients resistant to medications. Recently, research teams at three U.S. institutions published findings supporting this new strategy. Earlier this month, a team of investigators at UC San Francisco’s Dolby Family Center for Mood Disorders publi…

Investigators affiliated with several vendors of neuromodulation systems presented findings at the 2021 meeting of the North American Neuromodulation Society earlier this month. The meeting, which was originally planned for Orlando, FL, took place via video conference. At the meeting, Nevro announced results supporting the use of the company’s HF10 therapy for patients with chronic pain, including results from the painful diabetic neuropathy and non-surgical refractory back pain randomized clinical trials.

More than 110 neurotechnolgy professionals attended the 20th Annual Neurotech Leaders Forum last month. The hybrid event had a handful of attendees on site in San Francisco, but most participated via Zoom video conference. The two-day conference featured two keynote presentations: Nevro founder Konstantinos Alataris spoke on the first day, and Kernel founder Bryan Johnson spoke with NBR editor James Cavuoto on the second day [NBR Nov20 p2].

The field of psychiatry has undergone several significant transformations in recent years. One of them is the advent of neuromodulation therapies that promise to help those with treatment-resistant mood disorders. Equally important, neurotech approaches to psychiatric disorders can shed much needed light on the neurological basis of affect, as we report in our article on page 1 of this issue. But a…

The emergence of COVID-19 and the SARS-CoV-2 virus in 2020 created new opportunities for neurotech firms involved with devices treating respiratory or inflammatory disorders. In recent weeks, researchers and funding organizations have turned their attention to neurological and psychological impacts of the pandemic. In a recent study of how COVID-19 affects a patient’s brain, NIH researchers consist…

In recent years, the market for neurorehabilitation systems has matured as it has differentiated, with several new neurotech startups and research institutions now targeting a range of disorders related to stroke and brain injury. Among the conditions being targeted with neurotech therapies are dysphagia, aphasia, upper-extremity paralysis, and neurogenic pain. At the joint virtual meeting of the E…

The National Institutes of Health will fund more than 175 grants, totaling nearly $500 million, through the NIH’s Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies Initiative, part of a large effort among federal and non-federal partners to use knowledge about how the brain works to develop more effective therapies for neurological disorders. “Recent discoveries and new technologies sup…