News

The electroencephalograph, or EEG, has been the boon and the bane of neuroscientists and bioengineers for decades. Scientists have scoured strip chart recordings for any clue of neurophysiological function. Engineers have studied the “inverse problem” of localizing within the skull the source of electrical potentials measured at the scalp. Clinicians have compared patients’ EEG data with healthy subjects in an effort to uncover what’s wrong with an individual.

Brainwave Sensor Touted as Tool in Counter-Terrorism An Iowa firm called Brain Fingerprinting Laboratories, Inc., is positioning its EEG-based brain-state analysis system as a potential tool in the fight against terrorism. The device, consisting of a headband sensor, EEG amplifier, and computer-based signal processor, attempts to detect whether a subject or suspect has had prior association with specific words, images, or other stimuli.

Regulatory agencies like the Food and Drug Administration play an important role in any society. Consumers depend on an informed, impartial, and reasonable regulatory agency to protect them from events and contingencies that are beyond their control and expertise. Even the most conservative free-market crusader in the U.S. would most likely choose the FDA-approved slab of beef over a black-market steak brought in from Tijuana.

Functional Electrical Stimulation Field Converges in Cleveland The spirit of a new industry and the promise of groundbreaking medical technology was in the air in Cleveland at the sixth annual conference of the International Functional Electrical Stimulation Society meeting in June. The five-day event, themed “Envisioning a New Century of Breakthroughs,” highlighted six “millennium” papers on key a…

Biocontrol Corp. Looks to Break Into Computer Peripheral Market BioControl Systems, Inc., the South San Francisco neurotechnology firm that developed the BioMuse neural interface system, has set its sights on the mass market for computer input products. Although the company has sold more than 100 of its $20,000 BioMuse systems to corporate, government, and private research institutions, company fou…

VA Establishes Two New Neurotech Research Centers The US Department of Veterans Affairs has established two new research facilities to investigate neural prosthesis and electrical stimulation technologies. The first new facility, the Center for Innovative Visual Rehabilitation, is located at the Jamaica Plains VA Medical Center in Boston. That center will employ researchers from nearby Massachusett…

Thank you for reading the premier issue of Neurotech Business Report. Our primary goal in launching this publication is to help commercialize the neurotechnology industry: to help drive funding from public and private sources and to promote technology transfer from research to clinical, industrial, and commercial markets. One of the first places we’d like to start is the venture capital community.

UC Irvine Biomedical Engineering Center Revs for Industry Collaboration by David E. Griffith, senior editor Spurred on and related industries, the University of California, Irvine’s Center for Biomedical Engineering has begun to look at ways of collaborating with nearby industry. The institution’s director, Steven C. George, M.D., Ph.D, made a presentation in June to the Life Sciences Industry Council of Orange County to inform the industry of future research directions and expansion efforts.

Engineers Penetrate the Nervous System at NIH Neural Prosthesis Workshop The 32nd NIH Neural Prosthesis Workshop, held in Bethesda, MD, Oct. 17-19, lived up to its legacy as the annual gathering of researchers funded Program and other NIH Institutes. Over 200 biomedical engineers, neuroscientists, clinicians, and device manufacturers attended this year’s event, despite heightened security at the federal agency.

NIH Releases Program Announcement for Neurotechnology Research The National Institutes of Health in early October released a new program announcement for Neurotechnology Research, Development, and Enhancement. The new initiative encourages multidisciplinary research efforts and involves several NIH institutes, including the National Institute of Mental Health, the National Institute on Deafness and…