News

Manufacturers of hypoglossal nerve stimulation systems for treating obstructive sleep apnea received some good news on the reimbursement front earlier this month. The U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services finalized its CY2026 Hospital Outpatient Prospective Payment System and Ambulatory Surgery Center Rule. Within the final rule, CMS assigned CPT Code 64568, the code used for HGNS implants, to New Technology Ambulatory Payment Classification 1580.

Of all the sessions that took place during the 25th annual Neurotech Leaders Forum earlier this month, perhaps the one that stands out the most is the keynote address ’s former professor at Case Western Reserve University, J. Thomas Mortimer. In his talk, Mortimer reflected back on some of the experiences in his life where someone gave him the benefit of the doubt, and offered him an opportunity that would prove to be significant in his career.

Neurotech researchers and commercial firms have devised therapeutic approaches to treating a number of psychiatric disorders, such as major depression, OCD, and anxiety. More recently, some research teams have set their site on treating addiction, and one firm, Spark Biomedical, has obtained FDA clearance for its noninvasive Sparrow device to treat opioid use disorder. But a more challenging and ubiquitous form of addiction involves substances that are legal and commercially available, namely tobacco and alcohol.

This newsletter often covers the development of diagnostic devices that help identify disease severity and select suitable candidates for bioelectronic medicine therapies. A case in point is the use of cervical VNS for treating heart failure with reduced ejection fraction. Several clinical trials for HFrEF led , Boston Scientific, and LivaNova failed their primary endpoints, even though they were successful for a subset of patients.

The 2025 MedTech Conference, organized , brought medical device industry professionals from around the world to San Diego, CA earlier this month. The four-day event featured a variety of sessions devoted to key topics such as reimbursement, international markets, investment, and patient engagement [see article, p3]. One of the most valuable features of this year’s conference was a series of investor forums organized .

Anyone who follows aviation, as this editor does, is eager to learn about the features and capabilities of new aircraft when they get introduced, particularly if there is something groundbreaking about the design. But most pilots would not be so eager to get behind the controls and fly one of those new planes before has undergone testing. That is the role of a test pilot. It doesn’t happen often, b…

Subsense, Inc., the Palo Alto, CA manufacturer of brain neuromodulation systems, is not the only startup to target the market for brain-computer interfaces. But the company’s novel nanoparticle-based noninvasive technology stands to set the firm apart from the myriad others entering this space. The company emerged from stealth mode in February of this year, and earlier this month, hosted an open house at its California headquarters.

Since the early days of the neurotechnology industry, neural engineers have sought to devise networks of implantable neurostimulators that can deliver stimulation to different anatomical targets and communicate with other devices on the network. Twenty years ago, researchers at the Alfred Mann Foundation presented the concept of a networked neuroprosthesis consisting of multiple injectable BION stimulators.

Neurotech Reports, the publisher of the Neurotech Business Report newsletter, announced that several panelists and presenters have been added to the agenda for the 25th annual Neurotech Leaders Forum, which take place November 5-6, 2025 in San Francisco. New speakers include Murthy Simhabhatla, CEO of SetPoint Medical, Ryan Field, CEO of Kernel, Andreas Forland, CEO of Cognixion, and Oliver Armitage, newly appointed vice president of Axoft.

According to our 2024 Market Report on Bioelectronic Medicine, OAB is the leading segment in the bioelectronic medicine market and is poised for continued growth in coming years due to an aging population, chronic stress, and growing patient awareness of neuromodulation therapies. In the OAB market, implantable SNS devices hold the lion’s share, while wearable devices for percutaneous and transcutaneous tibial nerve stimulation remain on the margins, as we reported in our December 2024 issue.