(Reuters) — Scientists studying people with depression say brain scans could be used to predict who is most likely to relapse, an approach that could help doctors make better decisions about who should stay on antidepressants and who should stop. In a small study of 64 patients, the researchers found that significant differences showed up in […]
Psychiatry
Tal Medical raises $14m for non-invasive anti-depression device
Tal Medical said today that it landed a $14 million Series B round it plans to use in backing clinical trials for its low-field magnetic stimulation technology as a non-invasive neurostimulation treatment for depression and bipolar disorder.
Depression, suicide and heart surgery | MassDevice.com On Call
MASSDEVICE ON CALL — Doctors are drawing new attention to the link between cardiac surgery and depression in the days following the suicide of beloved actor Robin Williams.
Why are obstetricians among the top billers for group psychotherapy in Illinois?
by Charles Ornstein, ProPublica. This story was co-published with The Chicago Tribune.
Cervel Neurotech raises $11M for device-based depression therapy
California-based medical device maker Cervel Neurotech is nearing the close of an $11.9 million funding round, having raised $11.1 million since April 2013 in support of its technology-based therapies for neurological and psychiatric disorders.
Medtronic’s ‘brain pacemaker’ and the future of neurological disease treatment
Study: Experimental anorexia treatment with deep brain stimulation may provide lasting results
In what some are calling "a world 1st," researchers reported some success in treating severe anorexia patients via implanted electrodes that delivered electrical energy to the regions of the brain associated with emotion.
The study enrolled 6 patients to receive the experimental treatment, reporting that 3 of the 6 achieved weight gain and 4 of the 6 reported changes in mood, anxiety, control over their urges to binge and purge and other symptoms associated with anorexia.
Mass. Rep. introduces bill limiting predicate devices for 510(k) | MassDevice.com On Call
MASSDEVICE ON CALL — Massachusetts Rep. Edward Markey (D) introduced a new bill this week, aimed at limiting the types of devices that are suitable as predicates for new 510(k) applications.
The bill, dubbed the "Safety of Untested & New Devices Act of 2012," would require new 510(k) applications to provide a report on the market status of any devices used to demonstrate "substantial equivalence," including information about corrections and removals of those devices and "each device in the full device lineage" of predicates.
St. Jude’s deep brain stimulator proves effective against severe depression
St. Jude Medical’s (NYSE:STJ) deep brain stimulation implant proved safe and effective in treatment of patients with severe therapy-resistant depression.
Results from the first multi-center pilot study, conducted among 21 patients, found that 62 percent reported a 40 percent reduction in depression symptoms and 29 percent reported that their symptoms were cut in half after one year.
St. Jude Medical Study Results Confirm Benefit of Treating Patients Suffering from Severe Depression with Deep Brain Stimulation
Results from the first multi-center pilot study of deep brain stimulation (DBS) for major depressive disorder were published online today by the Journal of Neurosurgery. The study, conducted at three research facilities in Canada, was designed to replicate and build upon an earlier study by Dr. Andres Lozano and Dr. Helen Mayberg which was published in the journal Neuron in 2005. Sponsored by St. Jude Medical, Inc. (NYSE:STJ), the study demonstrates significant improvement in depression symptoms among patients who are highly treatment resistant.
Delivering psychiatric care in the ED: Keeping adolescents in crisis out of limbo
By Tom Ulrich
When teenagers come to an emergency department expressing suicidal thoughts or after a suicide attempt, the accepted model of care is to evaluate, then either send them home or keep them in the ED until an inpatient psychiatric bed becomes available.
