News

The psychiatric disorder market remains, in our view, the last and greatest frontier for the neurotechnology industry. And while there has been significant progress in deep brain stimulation, cortical stimulation, and implanted vagus nerve stimulation as therapies to treat psychiatric disorders, the path to commercialization has proven to be far shorter for noninvasive neuromodulation therapies that treat psychiatric disorders.

Implanted electrodes in the human brain represent one of the most critical components of a neuromodulation device—and one of the most crucial areas of research and development in the neurotechnology industry. As we report in our article on page 1 of this issue, dealing with the response of brain tissue surrounding a neural implant remains a key challenge. But many other challenges confront neural engineers, neurosurgeons, and commercial firms seeking to improve implanted brain stimulation and recording devices.

In the 17 years that we have published this newsletter, one of the greatest therapeutic successes we have witnessed has been deep brain stimulation. The therapy has helped hundreds of thousands of patients with a variety of neurological disorders and much progress has been made in device design and implantation. Still, one major unresolved issue about DBS concerns timing. How soon in the progression of a disease or disorder should a patient begin a DBS regimen?

In recent years, neural engineers and clinicians have begun to investigate closed-loop neuromodulation systems that modify stimulation parameters based upon feedback from neurological signals or neuromuscular response. Saluda Medical has made progress with its closed-loop spinal cord stimulation system for chronic pain. In 2005, a Canadian firm called Medtrode sought to develop a closed-loop DBS platform [NBR Jul06 p6] but commercial progress stalled in subsequent years.

Commercial firms and research institutions developing implanted neurostimulation systems have had years of experience dealing with challenges emanating from within the body, such as tissue encapsulation, lead migration, electrode breakage, and battery failure. But now the industry must be ready to confront two additional threats from the external world: cybersecurity intrusions and environmental influences.

Among the most intriguing announcements at the recent AAN meeting in Los Angeles [see conference report, p7] was a discussion of a new precision medicine initiative , director of the National Institutes of Health. Speaking , D.C., Collins described a bold new effort, called the All of Us research program, to get 1 million Americans to participate in a study of the relationship between genomic and environmental factors contributing to diseases.

Investors, entrepreneurs, and funding agencies gathered in New York City earlier this month for the inaugural Bioelectronic Medicine Forum hosted . The event highlighted a new and growing segment of the neurotechnology industry which is projected to grow to more than $7 billion by 2022, according to The Market for Neurotechnology: 2018-2022. Attendees discussed funding opportunities, regulatory and reimbursement issues, new economic and pricing models, and other issues confronting the industry.

One of the most significant topics of discussion at the inaugural Bioelectronic Medicine Forum earlier this month was the subject of new economic models for neuromodulation therapies [see conference report, p7]. As it turns out, this could prove to be the key factor that defines the bioelectronic medicine industry more so than targets, indications, and technologies. During a closing session devoted…

A newly published market research report from Neurotech Reports, the publisher of the Neurotech Business Report newsletter, predicts that the global market for neurotechnology products will be $8.4 billion in 2018 and grow to $13.3 billion by 2022, a 12 percent compound annual growth rate. The report, titled The Market for Neurotechnology: 2018-2022, tracks U.S. and worldwide sales of neurotechnology products in four major categories: neuromodulation, neuroprosthetics, neurorehabilitation, and neurosensing.

As the staff of Neurotech Reports prepares for our first Bioelectronic Medicine Forum on March 22, we’re left with much of the same optimism that we felt 17 years ago, preparing for the first Neurotech Leaders Forum. The sense of excitement that accompanies the birth of a new industry can be overwhelming, and certainly raises new questions. Among these are questions of nomenclature and terminology.