By Neurotech Reports Staff
August 6, 2026 | News from across the neurotech and bioelectronic medicine industries including multiple efforts at vagus nerve stimulation for bleeding, a look at how caffeine impacts taste, nerve stimulation for sleep apnea, and more.
Autonomix Expands Its Neuromodulation Patent Portfolio
Autonomix Medical (NASDAQ: AMIX) has been granted U.S. Patent No. 12,471,776, covering systems and methods for monitoring sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system activity. The company says the new IP could support patient selection, procedural guidance, and post-treatment monitoring across a range of neuromodulation applications targeting the autonomic nervous system. Read the full release
Abbott Posts Strong Q2, Raises Full-year EPS Guidance
Abbott (NYSE: ABT) reported second-quarter 2026 sales of $12.6 billion, up 13% on a reported basis, with adjusted diluted EPS of $1.31. The company raised its full-year adjusted EPS guidance to a range of $5.45–$5.60 (from $5.38–$5.58) and reaffirmed 6.5%–7.5% comparable sales growth for the year. Growth was led by double-digit gains in Electrophysiology, along with strength in Rhythm Management, Diabetes Care, and Diagnostics. Read the full release
Mayo Clinic Maps A New Deep-brain Target For Epilepsy Therapy
Mayo Clinic researchers have built a detailed map of the pulvinar, a deep, largely unexplored brain region, showing that areas just millimeters apart connect to entirely different brain networks. Published in the Journal of Neuroscience, the findings give clinicians a blueprint for placing electrodes more precisely during deep brain stimulation for drug-resistant epilepsy — and the team says the maps are already being used to individualize patient treatment. Read the full release
Theranica’s Nerivio Crosses The Halfway Mark On U.S. Insurance Coverage
Theranica announced that insurance coverage for its FDA-cleared migraine device Nerivio now reaches 158 million lives—more than half of the U.S. insured population. The milestone, driven by a new top-tier national payer plus a dozen additional state-level policies, represents a doubling of coverage over the past 15 months for the drug-free, wearable neuromodulation therapy. Read the full release
Saluda Medical Performs First U.S. Surgeries With Its New Paddle Lead
Saluda Medical completed the first U.S. surgical cases using its newly FDA-approved Evoke CAP24 paddle lead, performed by surgeons in Arkansas and Pennsylvania in mid-July. CAP24 is the first spinal cord stimulation paddle lead built for closed-loop neuromodulation, extending Saluda’s real-time, physiology-based Evoke therapy into paddle procedures—which account for roughly 30% of U.S. SCS implants. Read the full release
Mount Sinai Researcher Charts A Path For “Cognitive” Brain-computer Interfaces
In a perspective published in Trends in Cognitive Sciences, Mount Sinai’s Ignacio Saez, PhD, argues that treating psychiatric conditions like depression, anxiety, PTSD, and OCD will require fundamentally different BCI approaches than today’s motor-focused systems. Because cognition is distributed across shifting brain networks rather than a single stable region, he proposes merging real-time neural decoding with adaptive neuromodulation into closed-loop systems built specifically for cognitive disorders. Read the full release
Ottobock Acquires Fesia To Build Out Its Neuro-orthotics Line
Ottobock is acquiring Spanish medtech company Fesia Technology, adding functional electrical stimulation (FES) orthoses to its neuro-orthotics portfolio. Fesia’s wearable devices deliver electrical pulses to stimulate weakened muscles in patients with stroke, MS, cerebral palsy, and spinal cord injury. The deal, terms undisclosed, is expected to close within six months. Read the full release
Science Corp Launches Vision-restoring BCI Implant Across Europe
Science Corporation announced the European commercial launch of PRIMA, a subretinal implant designed to restore functional central vision in patients with geographic atrophy caused by age-related macular degeneration. PRIMA received a CE mark authorizing sales in 30 European countries and is the first BCI device cleared for form vision restoration — letting patients read letters, numbers, and words. The company is separately pursuing FDA review for the U.S. market. Read the full release
Decade-long Study Shows Brain Stimulation For Touch Remains Safe
Researchers from the University of Pittsburgh and University of Chicago published the longest-running safety study of intracortical microstimulation (ICMS) in humans, delivering 168 million stimulation pulses across five participants with spinal cord injury over a combined 27 years of implant time — without serious adverse events. The results, published in Science Translational Medicine, offer new evidence that restoring a sense of touch through direct brain stimulation can be sustained safely for up to a decade. Read the full release
Newronika’s Adaptive DBS System Earns CE Mark With Cloud Data Integration
Newronika received CE Mark certification for the latest release of its αDBS adaptive deep brain stimulation system, now fully integrated with WebBioBank, the company’s cloud-based neural data platform. It’s the first approved adaptive DBS system that continuously senses neural activity and automatically adjusts stimulation while streaming data into a connected neural data repository — aimed at reducing side effects and clinic visits for patients with Parkinson’s and other neurological conditions. Read the full release
Universal Brain Gets FDA Clearance For Rapid Eeg-based Psychiatry Platform
Universal Brain received FDA 510(k) clearance for its UB ERP System, which pairs a dry-electrode EEG wearable with the company’s Neurotique software to measure brain function via event-related potentials in under five minutes. The clearance aims to bring objective, biology-based assessment into psychiatric care, which has traditionally relied on symptom checklists. The company also secured a $2 million grant from Japan’s medical research agency and named an Ohio State psychiatry chair as chief medical advisor. Read the full release
BIOTRONIK Neuro Acquires Spinal Cord Stimulation IP From Soin Neuroscience
BIOTRONIK Neuro acquired a portfolio of spinal cord stimulation patents from Dayton, Ohio-based Soin Neuroscience, covering waveform design, adaptive programming, and AI/machine-learning approaches to neuromodulation. The deal builds on a research collaboration the two companies began in December 2025 and will inform BIOTRONIK’s next-generation SCS development alongside its existing Prospera system. Financial terms were not disclosed, and Soin Neuroscience continues to operate independently. Read the full release
Nyxoah Posts Strong U.S. Growth In Q2 Preliminary Results
Nyxoah reported preliminary second-quarter 2026 results showing continued momentum for its Genio hypoglossal nerve stimulation system for obstructive sleep apnea. Global net revenue is expected around €7.7 million, up 21% sequentially, with U.S. revenue near €5.2 million, up 22%. The company doubled its active high-volume U.S. accounts to 180, trained 55 new surgeons, and entered Q3 with 427 patients in the prior-authorization pipeline. It also flagged a proposed 2027 CMS reimbursement increase for hospital outpatient and ambulatory surgical settings, among the strongest within the relevant neuromodulation payment category. With $110 million in new financing secured, Nyxoah reaffirmed full-year 2026 revenue guidance of €36–40 million. Read the full release
Wearable Ear Stimulation Shows Promise For Von Willebrand Disease
An editorial in Expert Review of Hematology outlines a pilot trial testing a wearable transcutaneous auricular neurostimulation (tAN) device—targeting the vagus and trigeminal nerves via the ear—as a non-drug option for heavy menstrual bleeding. Building on animal research showing vagus stimulation can cut bleeding by 45–75% in trauma models, participants tracked blood loss over a baseline cycle and then a treatment cycle using twice-daily one-hour sessions. Those with von Willebrand disease saw blood loss scores drop 57%; participants with heavy bleeding of unknown cause saw a 54% reduction, with menstruation duration shortened by 19% in both groups. The author, a physician at Oregon Health & Science University, also has a research contract relationship with Spark Biomedical for the Luna Study. Read the full study
Feinstein Institutes Study Shows Ear Stimulation Can Activate Blood Clotting
Separately, a first-in-human study from Northwell Health’s Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research found that a small, wearable ear device can activate the vagus nerve and speed clot formation in healthy adults. The trial examined whether auricular neurostimulation could shift blood biomarkers toward clotting, potentially helping stop uncontrolled bleeding. Applications span battlefield trauma, surgical complications, bleeding disorders like hemophilia and von Willebrand disease, and postpartum hemorrhage — the leading cause of maternal death worldwide. Its compact, portable design could allow deployment in emergency settings well beyond the hospital. Read the full release
Lab-Grown ‘Living Tongue’ Reveals How Caffeine Reshapes Taste Signaling
Researchers at Xi’an Jiaotong University built a biomimetic taste sensor pairing lab-grown taste bud organoids with a custom 3D microelectrode array, using vertical electrodes that capture activity from inside the organoid rather than just its surface. Exposing the organoids to caffeine tripled their baseline firing rate and selectively amplified responses to sour, bitter, salty, and umami stimuli, while leaving sweet signaling largely unchanged. The team calls it the first direct electrophysiological look at how caffeine alters taste, with potential uses in coffee cupping and sensory evaluation. Read the full release
