The broadest view of post-mortem brains in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) has unveiled the genome, transcriptome and epigenome alterations of this neurodegenerative condition. The coordinated research, directed by scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), also described new cellular pathways that could help the scientific community design new therapies. Four simultaneous studies published on Sept. 28, 2023, in Cell, presented a brain single-cell atlas of AD, exposed the damage that affects DNA, and described the processes that alter the microglia and dysregulate the epigenome.
Boston Scientific Corp.’s plan to acquire Relievant Medsystems Inc. is part of its ongoing effort to address chronic pain which is significantly impacting the quality of life of millions of people. Relievant’s Intracept intraosseous nerve ablation system will give Boston Scientific another tool in its armory to tackle chronic pain which already includes radiofrequency ablation (RFA) solutions and spinal cord stimulator (SCS) systems.
Patients with metastatic brain tumors are among the most desperate of patients for at least a modestly effective treatment let alone a cure, and GT Medical Technologies Inc., of Tempe, Ariz., reported the interim findings from a study of 48 patients suffering from a total of 51 brain metastases. Four-month data from this study demonstrate that implant of the Gammatile device is safe as demonstrated by the lack of adverse events, and these results combined with other data suggest that this device can offer this patient population real hope of surviving one of the deadliest series of afflictions known to humankind.
A new gene editing method uses the CRISPR technique to modify the cells of an organ in vivo, creating a mosaic used to identify the effects of each altered gene. Scientists from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) in Zürich developed this technology called AAV-Perturb-seq, based on adeno-associated virus (AAV) to target, edit and analyze single-cell genetic perturbations.
An artificial intelligence (AI) tool developed by Annalise.ai Pty Ltd. was able to improve radiologists’ accuracy in detecting abnormalities on non-contrast computed tomography brain (CTB) scans. According to a study published in European Radiology, the Annalise Enterprise CTB module improved radiologists' accuracy by 32% and reduced their overall reading time by 11%.
Light therapy during sleep helps increase resistance to Alzheimer’s disease (AD) progression, a study in Frontiers of Optoelectronics suggests. The researchers found that photobiomodulation (PBM) during deep sleep improved the ability of the lymphatic system to flush beta-amyloid from the brains of mice, demonstrating the importance of sleep in fending off the neurodegenerative disease and opening a possible new therapy for prevention and treatment of Alzheimer’s.
With a waiting list of some 90,000 people, startup company Charco Neurotech Ltd. is seeing growing demand for its Cue1 device which has shown to reduce the symptoms of Parkinson’s disease in patients suffering from the condition. The Cue1 is a non-invasive device that can literally change the day-to-day lives of people living with Parkinson's, Lucy Jung, CEO and co-founder of Charco, told BioWorld.
The latest patent application from Neuroderm Ltd. described a magnetic coupling and detection mechanism for its small two-part wearable infusion drug delivery device that delivers a liquid drug to Parkinson’s disease patients subcutaneously.
Insightec Ltd. broadened its CE mark approval for the Exablate Neuro, a focused ultrasound platform which treats essential tremors, to allow patients to have their second side treated. With some 60 million people estimated to be affected by essential tremor globally, Insightec hopes that with both sides treated, patients will have full body relief from tremor and therefore be able to resume everyday activities.
An international team of researchers have developed a new blood test that could detect Parkinson’s disease earlier than current methods. The test, a real-time PCR-based assay, called Mito Dnadx, uses blood to identify damage to mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) caused by the neurodegenerative condition. Based on the findings published in the journal Science Translational Medicine, the test could allow rapid, noninvasive and accurate identification of Parkinson’s disease (PD) before it causes much damage to the nervous system.
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