News

Kip Ludwig to Keynote 2011 Neurotech Leaders Forum in San Francisco Kip Ludwig, who was recently appointed as program director in repair and plasticity at the NIH National Institute for Neurological Disorders and Stroke, will deliver the keynote address at the 11th annual Neurotech Leaders Forum, which will take place in San Francisco on October 17-18, 2011. Ludwig will offer attendees his views on his new role with the NIH and how it impacts the neurotechnology industry.

Our Fragile Brains Traumatic brain injury represents one of the most significant application areas for neurotechnology. As we report in our conference report in this issue, there are about 300,000 cases of concussion caused in the U.S.—with about 47,000 of them classified as serious injuries. On top of that, approximately 1,300 children suffer severe or fatal head trauma in the U.S. each year as a result of shaken baby syndrome.

When Neurotech Isn’t Right Neurotechnology devices have proven to be a viable choice in treating and diagnosing a large number of neurological diseases and disorders. But not every neurotech device is right for every patient in every situation and it’s worthwhile for vendors to have a good understanding of when their products are not the best choice. Two recent studies point out some of the issues facing neurotech vendors when alternative treatment options coexist with neurotech solutions.

Regulating Our Complaining Although it’s too early to assess the impact of an Institute of Medicine report on possible changes to the FDA’s process of reviewing medical devices, it’s not too early to gauge public sentiment to efforts to resist additional regulation. Device manufacturers have been concerned about that forthcoming report since Jeffrey Shuren, director of the Center for Devices and Ra…

Neurotech Startups Participate at International Neuromodulation Society Meeting More than 1000 clinicians, neural engineers, and related professionals attended the 2011 meeting of the International Neuromodulation Society, held in London, England last month. The conference began with a full-day session called Future Innovations in Neuromodulation: Bringing New Ideas to Market. The session, oriented…

Observations from London The 2011 meeting of the International Neuromodulation Society, which took place in London, England last month, featured a large number of oral and poster presentations offering updated technical and clinical information on neuromodulation topics. And as we detail in our conference report in this issue [see p7], there was also a full day of sessions devoted to commercialization, investment, and industry issues affecting neuromodulation startup firms.

NIH Names Kip Ludwig as Program Director in Repair and Plasticity April 2011 The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke recently announced the appointment of Kip Ludwig as program director in repair and plasticity. Ludwig fills a position that has been vacant since Joe Pancrazio left the NIH in 2009. Ludwig received his Ph.D. in Bioengineering at the University of Michigan, followed by post-doctoral work at the same institution.

Upper-Extremity FES Systems Making a Comeback February 2011 The market for upper-extremity functional electrical stimulation systems, which suffered with the demise of NeuroControl Corp.’s Freehand system nearly 10 years ago, is poised for resurgence. Several research institutions and commercial firms have devised new systems that help restore function to individuals with tetraplegia resulting from spinal cord injury.

Carbon Nanotube Synapse Replicates Neural Function ial director April 2011 Engineering researchers at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, CA are continuing their quest to construct artificial neural devices that mimic the function of the brain. Ted Berger, a professor of biomedical engineering at the university and director of the Center for Neural Engineering, has been developing a prosthetic hippocampus using analog VLSI technology.

Drop in Pharma R&D for CNS Opens Door for Devices , senior technical editor March 2011 Recent reductions in research and development efforts created unprecedented opportunities for neurotech devices to step in to fill the forthcoming void of therapies for neurological disorders. Nervous system diseases and disorders are a large and growing challenge. As technologies have advanced life expectancies, for example , the incidence of brain disease has and will continue to increase.