Say hello to MassDevice +5, a bite-sized view of the top five medtech stories of the day. This feature of MassDevice.com’s coverage highlights our 5 biggest and most influential stories from the day’s news to make sure you’re up to date on the headlines that continue to shape the medical device industry.
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5. This wearable measures your emotions
Forget the mood rings. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology Media Lab’s spinout mPath has created a wearable device that can determine the exact moment a wearer is experiencing certain subconscious emotions.
The MOXO wearable was originally developed to study the stress levels of children who have autism. That device, commercialized through MIT professor Rosalind Picard’s startup Empatica, was developed into the E4 wristband that can sense when a seizure is going to occur. Read more
4. More defections scuttle Republican plan to repeal Obamacare without replacement
Republican efforts repeal Obamacare despite the failure of their replacement healthcare reform plan likewise collapsed late yesterday, after a trio of moderate GOPers said they wouldn’t support the measure.
Following the Trumpcare flameout yesterday, majority leader Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) announced a vote on a straight repeal of Obamacare to take effect in two years, planning a vote “early next week.” Read more
3. Lumicell taps ex-Accuray COO Londy as CEO
Lumicell said last week it tapped former Accuray chief operating officer Kelly Londy as its new chief exec, with founder W. Lee moving to take the role of prez & chief scientific officer.
Prior to holding the COO position at Accuray, Londy has held leadership positions at GE Healthcare and Royal Philips, Lumicell said. Read more
2. Simplify Medical raises $21m for MR-safe cervical disc
Simplify Medical said today that it plans to use its $21 million Series B round to complete a pair of pivotal studies for its namesake cervical disc replacement.
The round was led by Life Sciences Partners, Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Simplify said, joined by new backer Sectoral Asset Management and M.H. Carnegie, the Australian private equity shop that acquired Simplify in March 2015. Read more
1. Johnson & Johnson CEO Gorsky: Verb Surgical robotics program ‘on track’
Johnson & Johnson executives yesterday said the company is “on track” with its Verb Surgical prototype robot-assisted surgery platform, with chairman & CEO Alex Gorsky labeling the healthcare giant’s approach with Alphabet‘s Verily Life Sciences as “computerized surgery.”
“We are quite excited about our computerized surgery program. Everything up to this point in time is on track. We’re continuing to make really good progress,” Gorsky said during a conference call with analysts discussing second-quarter results. “We think that there’s an opportunity there not to just actually improve the surgery itself [but to] bring data to bear in the operating room, having much more flexibility and modularity in the system that we would introduce.” Read more