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A newly released market research study from Neurotech Reports, the publisher of this newsletter, projects that the worldwide market for neurotechnology products will grow from $6.4 billion in 2014 to $10.7 billion by 2018. The largest market segment within the neurotechnology industry is neuromodulation systems. Worldwide sales of neuromodulation systems will grow from $3.5 billion in 2014 to $6.0 billion in 2018, a 14 percent compound annual growth rate.

St. Jude Medical, the St. Paul, MN manufacturer of neuromodulation systems, became the number two player in the industry behind Medtronic when it acquired Advanced Neuromodulation Systems in 2005. In the years that followed the acquisition, the team put together stayed in place in Plano, TX and immediately put competitive pressure on Medtronic, a competitor St. Jude had seen before in the cardiac device market.

As the nation gears up for the annual Super Bowl game, it’s worth remembering the role that professional and collegiate football plays in brain injuries, concussions, and other neurological disorders. Although league officials have taken steps in recent years to mitigate head-to-head contact between players and to assess possible concussions before returning a player to the field, much still needs to be done.

Investigators at several research institutions in the U.S. are advancing research into the mechanisms of action of deep brain stimulation. This research is not only helping to improve DBS therapies for different neurological diseases and disorders. It is also leading to the development of new neurotech devices that could be commercialized in the years ahead. Many recent advances in understanding th…

Several hundred neural engineers, clinicians, and researchers attended the 2013 6th International IEEE EMBS Conference on Neural Engineering, held in San Diego, CA earlier this month. Conference chairs were Bin He from the University of Minnesota and Metin Akay from the University of Houston. In a symposium devoted to brain-machine interfaces, Tim Denison from Medtronic gave a talk on translational research tools for investigating neurological diseases.

The news that St. Jude Medical failed a futility analysis of its BROADEN trial of DBS for treatment of depression cast a pall over an otherwise upbeat attendance at the 2013 NANS meeting [see Conference Report, p7]. Once again, the industry is left to pick up the pieces as a promising new technology gets set back years. It’s too early to assess blame for this failure. It’s tempting to wonder if St.

The neurotech industry has benefitted greatly from new device approvals in recent weeks. Most significant is FDA approval of Neuropace’s RNS device for epilepsy. After an excruciating wait that tested the endurance of entrepreneurs, investors, and investigators alike, the cortical stimulation system is now approved for treating adults with partial onset seizures who have failed to respond to two or more antiepileptic medications [see article, p3].

assistant editor About 80 executives, entrepreneurs, researchers, and financial professionals attended the 2013 Neurotech Leaders Forum, held in San Francisco earlier this month. The first day of the event was devoted to implantable neurotechnology systems. Keynote speaker Danny Sachs offered attendees insight into promoting neurotech innovation. He emphasized connecting concepts from different disciplines and generating many new ideas.

Neurotech Reports, the publisher of the Neurotech Business Report newsletter, announced the winners of the 2013 Gold Electrode Awards, selected in five categories the publication. The awards were presented at the 2013 Neurotech Leaders Forum in San Francisco on October 14. The Gold Electrode Award for Best New Product was presented to Second Sight Medical Products of Valencia, CA for its Argus II retinal prosthesis.

A sense of guarded optimism permeated the 13th annual Neurotech Leaders Forum, held in San Francisco earlier this month [see conference report, p7].In a session called “Neurotech Deal Scoreboard,” executives from Medtronic and Spinal Modulation, along with an industry consultant and financial professional, sounded a positive note on recent investment and partnership activity in the neurotech space.