MASSDEVICE ON CALL — Researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital were recipients of a $30 million grant to build brain implants for treating mental illness, targeting combat veterans coming home with brain injuries, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder.
Deep-brain stimulation
Brainsway raises $11.8M for neurological stimulation
Israeli stimulation devices maker Brainsway (PINK:BRSYF) raised about $11.8 million (NIS 41 million) thanks to a private placement investment from Yelin Lapidot Investment House.
Medtronic’s ‘brain pacemaker’ and the future of neurological disease treatment
Medtronic implants 1st U.S. patients with new brain-monitoring stimulation implant
Boston Scientific adds dystonia indication to CE Mark for Vercise DBS device
Boston Scientific (NYSE:BSX) said it won CE Mark approval in the European Union for its Vercise deep-brain stimulation device for treating the movement disorder called dystonia.
Robot-assisted surgery: Mazor touts landmark Parkinson’s patient treated | MassDevice.com On Call
MASSDEVICE ON CALL — For the 1st time Mazor Robotics’ (PINK:MZRTF) Renaissance robot-assisted surgical system system was used to to treat a Parkinson’s patient, implanting a battery-sized neurostimulator that delivers mild electrical stimulation to targeted areas of the brain.
Medtronic’s new implant delivers therapy and monitors brain activity at the same time
The 1st patient was implanted with a new iteration of Medtronic’s deep brain stimulation device that delivers therapy while simultaneously recording brain activity.
The company is touting its Activa PC+S Deep Brain Stimulation system as a game-changer in the way neurological and psychological diseases are treated, thanks to its simultaneous treating and monitoring capabilities.
Alzheimer’s disease: FDA expands deep-brain stimulation trial
Toronto-based Functional Neuromodulation won FDA approval to expand the U.S. arm of its Alzheimer’s study from 20 to 30 patients who will receive the company’s deep brain stimulation implant.
The device maker is already halfway through initial enrollment for its ADvance trial, which was slated to enroll 20 U.S. and 20 Canadian patients with mild Alzheimer’s disease, provide them with DBS systems and compare the effects of the systems turned on versus systems turned off.
Boston Scientific launches U.S. Parkinson’s trial, cites interim EU data
Boston Scientific (NYSE:BSX) said it launched a U.S. clinical trial of its Vercise deep-brain stimulation treatment for patients with Parkinson’s disease and touted interim results from a European study of the device.
Congress cuts VA salaries to send a message about backlogged claims | MassDevice.com On Call
MASSDEVICE ON CALL —Senior officials at the Department of Veterans Affairs will see reduced salaries and fewer bonuses in 2014 after the House voted to send a message about the tomes of backlogged veteran’s disability claims.
The more than 800,000 backlogged veteran’s disability claims have been a hot-button issue across party lines, and the new budget beefs up allocated money for processing these claims while cutting down on senior official’s compensation.