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Three key U.S. universities with active neural engineering programs are banding together to help advance commercialization of neurotechnology. The new IEEE Brain Initiative is sowing the seeds of commercialization and entrepreneurship by launching a unique workshop designed to help graduate neuroscience and neural engineering trainees approach their research with an eye toward commercialization. Th…

Earlier this year, the FDA’s Center for Devices and Radiological Health launched the Patient and Caregiver Connection Program in an effort to gain a better understanding of end users’ perspectives. There have been similar efforts such as Faster Cures, a watchdog of the 21st Century Cures Act, or the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute, which funds patient-centered research. These initiatives are welcome additions to the medical device landscape.

The NIH’s Stimulating Peripheral Activity to Relieve Conditions program took a major step forward earlier this month with the unveiling of a new data portal and with a series of meetings with key investigators and partners. The NIH revealed much of its new efforts during the 11th Congress of the International Society of Autonomic Neuroscience in Los Angeles [see conference report, page 7]. SPARC is…

The much-heralded public announcement from Elon Musk’s Neuralink commercial endeavor, which took place in San Francisco earlier this month, revealed many details about the company’s technology and product directions that were previously unknown. The launch event also uncovered relationships that the Bay Area firm has established with other neurotech firms and research institutions. During the July…

SCI2020, Launching a Decade of disruption in Spinal Cord Injury Research was held earlier this month on the NIH campus in Bethesda, MD. The event was sponsored Neurological Disorders and Stroke and the National Center for Medical Rehabilitation Research. Lyn Jakeman, director of the division of neuroscience at NINDS, kicked off the charge for the audience to “break down silos” and encouraged participants to work collaboratively across disciplines.

More than 2,000 rehabilitation professionals in a range of disciplines gathered in Toronto, Canada for the fourth biannual RehabWeek 2019. This combined event brought together seven professional organizations including the International Functional Electrical Stimulation Society, the American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine, Rehabilitation Engineering and Assistive Technology Society of North Am…

Two recently published journal articles structural changes in neuromodulation approaches to stroke rehabilitation. The recommendations could hasten the commercialization of new stroke treatment devices. Neurotechnology-based therapies, including brain-machine interfaces, robotics, and brain stimulation, will lead to largest treatment effects and success if they are tailored to the needs of individu…

In the weeks following Elon Musk’s public launch of his brain interfacing company Neuralink [see article, page 1], numerous neurotechnology investigators and industry professionals have weighed in on the significance of the firm’s progress. Some, like Halo Neuroscience founder (and ex-NeuroPace executive) Dan Chao were highly impressed. “The Neuralink launch was one of the most impressive and visionary neuroscience presentations I have ever seen,” he tweeted.

In the last 10 years, the market for transcranial magnetic stimulation systems has shifted dramatically from applications primarily in neurosensing and neuroscience research to neuromodulation therapy for psychiatric disorders. A host of new competitors has entered the market in recent years and the range of indications treatable . At the recent meeting of the American Psychiatric Association in Sa…

About 1200 clinicians, neural engineers, and neuromodulation industry professionals attended the INS 14th World Congress in Sydney, Australia earlier this month. The meeting, produced , was the first one conducted in Australia. A preconference session called Innovations in Neuromodulation featured presentations -stage firms, three intermediate-stage firms, and five of the six major players in the spinal cord stimulation market (Nevro chose not to participate).