News

About 1400 clinicians, neural engineers, and researchers attended the INS 12th World Congress in Montreal, Canada earlier this month. The event was organized . The Canadian Neuromodulation Society organized a pre-conference public education meeting. Alim Benabid from the University of Grenoble in France was honored as the INS Giant of Neuromodulation award for his pioneering work in deep brain stimulation.

One of the most striking observations about the recent meeting of the International Neuromodulation Society in Montreal [see conference report, p7] was the addition of two new spinal cord stimulation system vendors as platinum level sponsors, joining the big three—Medtronic, St. Jude Medical, and Boston Scientific—that have dominated previous meetings. The emergence of the two new publicly traded neuromodulation firms, Nevro Corp.

As a sign that the investment climate for healthcare startup firms has undergone changes in recent years, several neurotechnology startups have exploited some new fundraising alternatives that were not available a decade ago. Some have turned to crowdfunding options as a way to supplement their startup capital. Earlier this year, NeuroMetrix raised about $400,000 in an Indiegogo campaign that offered participants a Quell surface stimulation device for $199, a discount from the normal $250 price.

SharpBrains, the Washington, D.C. publisher of maket intelligence, released a new 206-page report that, for the first time, ana­lyzes the major intellectual property trends in the per­va­sive neurotechnology industry: noninvasive, potentially ubiquitous neurotechnologies, commercially viable outside major medical institutions or research facilities. Over the past two years a Sharp­Brains team, cros…

May has been a productive month for the neurotechnology industry, with a string of events bringing good news to investors and entrepreneurs. The FDA approval of Nevro’s Senza spinal cord stimulation system [see article, p2] was welcome news not only for the company and its investors, but for the industry as a whole, given the relative paucity of PMA approvals for implanted neuromodulation devices in recent years.

Neural engineers and clinical researchers at commercial firms and research laboratories continue to look for new ways to treat tinnitus, which remains one of the greatest unmet medical needs of the 21st century. Nearly 10 percent of the population has experienced ringing in the ear and 10 million Americans seek medical treatment each year. There are few viable therapies available. One of the earliest neurotech approaches to treating severe tinnitus was epidural stimulation of auditory cortex.

The recent news about the FDA’s consent decree alleging manufacturing and quality problems with Medtronic’s Synchromed infusion pump casts a shadow on both Medtronic and the FDA Center for Devices and Radiological Health. The consent decree requires the company to suspend manufacturing and distribution of the pain pumps. While some contend that it’s unreasonable for the FDA to hold products created…

Since its inception, deep-brain stimulation has been a powerful tool for treating neurological disorders. But the invasiveness of the implantation procedure limits DBS to patients who can’t be helped repels some who are good candidates. So we were encouraged to see some ideas for reducing the level of invasiveness of DBS proposed recently. One approach put forward involves carbon nanotube fibers. I…

Observers of the neurotechnology industry have been watching the handful of large publicly-traded neurotech device firms for some time to see which startups would get snapped up in the next M&A deal. So far, 2015 looks like the year of the mega-merger. The announcement that Cyberonics Inc. will merge with Sorin [see article, p5], coupled with Medtronic’s recently closed merger with Covidien, points up a new level of competition in the industry.

The market for implanted neurotechnology devices stands to benefit from new advances electrode materials and coatings that promise to extend the capabilities of current devices. Products such as DBS leads, peripheral nerve stimulators, sensing electrodes, and cochlear implants could all take advantage of enhanced capabilities. Two midwestern U.S. firms have recently developed enhanced coating technologies for implanted electrodes.