News

Neurotech Reports, the publisher of this newsletter, announced the winners of the 2015 Gold Electrode Awards. The awards were presented at the 2015 Neurotech Leaders Forum in San Francisco on November 2. The Gold Electrode Award for Best New Product was presented to Nevro Corp. for its Senza SCS. The device, which uses high-frequency stimulation for parasthesia-free pain neuromodulation, was approved year.

The bevy of positive clinical trial results reported at the 2015 NANS meeting earlier this month caps off one of the most successful years in the young history of the neurotechnology industry [see conference report p7]. The infusion of new technologies and new competitors stands to alter fundamentally the competitive face of the industry. Although new indications and new clinical specialties contin…

Neurotechnology device manufacturers have an array of technical, regulatory, and marketing issues they must confront as they develop new stimulation and sensing products. Power management, biocompatibility, lead placement, and product safety are just a few examples that come to mind. But as we report in our article on page 1 of this issue, cybersecurity and privacy issues have joined the list of issues that vendors must confront before introducing a new product.

Executives from several promising startup and emerging neurotechnology firms will be presenting at the 15th annual Neurotech Leaders Forum, to be held in San Francisco November 2-3, 2015. The two-day management and investment conference features sessions devoted to new technologies such as deep-brain stimulation, noninvasive brain stimulation, brain-computer interfaces, neuro assessment systems, and neuroprosthetics.

Neurotech Reports, the premier publication in the neurotechnology industry, announced the addition of Jennifer French as associate publisher and senior editor. French is the founder and executive director of Neurotech Network and has a breadth of experience in the neurotechnology industry. “As a neurotech user, writer, and advocate, Jennifer French has contributed greatly to the field,” said James Cavuoto, editor and publisher of Neurotech Reports.

It did not come as a major surprise when we learned that the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons issued a statement earlier this month on “opioid use, misuse, and abuse in orthopaedic practice.” Orthopaedic surgeons are the third highest prescribers of opioids in our healthcare system. AAOS joins the American Academy of Neurology and other medical groups in calling attention to the serious epi…

The potential market for neurotech therapies to treat age-related memory and cognitive disorders took a hit recently with the report of less than encouraging results from Functional Neuromodulation’s ADvance study of DBS of the fornix for Alzheimer’s disease [NBR Jul15 p1]. But two new studies that shed light on possible neurological mechanisms for memory and cognitive decline offer hope for new therapeutic approaches.

The goal of developing a neurotechnology therapy to treat cognitive and memory disorders is a challenging yet potentially rewarding one, as we report in our article on page 1 of this issue. Clearly, identifying the key brain regions that could act as potential DBS targets and elucidating the salient neural code responsible for normal and pathological memory function are important milestones in achieving that goal.

When the consumer neurotech startup Thync announced that it had been exempted from FDA approval of its new brain stimulation device, not everyone was happy. Some established vendors of medical-grade cortical stimulation devices groused openly that the FDA might have been too lenient in allowing new devices like Thync’s on the market without more testing and oversight. With several new vendors of co…

The potential market for treating psychiatric disorders with deep brain stimulation continues to confound research teams working in the area. Recently released data from two DBS studies offered disappointing results, but investigators and commercial firms still believe there is great potential for treating disorders such as depression and Alzheimer’s disease. In the current issue of Biological Psyc…