LONDON – Fixed and constant deep brain stimulation has been successful in treating Parkinson’s disease and epilepsy, but heterogeneity in individual response means that despite promise, clinical studies in serious depression have to date delivered inconsistent results. U.S. researchers have now developed a method for identifying the neural circuits underlying symptoms of depression in individual patients and applied this to deliver tailored therapy, using a commercially available device to stimulate the brain when these circuits are activated.

PARIS – Aleva Neurotherapeutics SA reported the first successful implantation of its Directstim directional deep brain stimulation (DBS) system into a patient suffering from Parkinson’s disease. The procedure involving this new generation of active brain device was performed by neurosurgeon Stephan Sobottka, from the Clinic for Neurosurgery at the University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus in Dresden, Germany.

LONDON – Inbrain Neuroelectronics Ltd. has raised €14.35 million (US$16.9 million) in a series A round to take nanoscale graphene implants it says have the potential to interface one-on-one with neurons, into clinical development later this year. The technology promises significant improvements on current implants used for deep brain stimulation to treat conditions including Parkinson’s disease, epilepsy, obsessive compulsive disorder and neuropathic pain.

Medtronic plc obtained the CE mark for its Sensight directional lead system for deep brain stimulation (DBS) for movement disorders and epilepsy, which is designed to be used with the company’s Percept PC DBS device. Percept received U.S. FDA clearance in June 2020 and CE mark in January 2020.

COVID-19 continues to dramatically reconfigure medicine as an ever-broadening array of digital therapies rolls out and telemedicine tackles increasingly complex applications. Abbott Laboratories’ newly launched Neurosphere Virtual Clinic exploits both trends to make management of chronic pain and movement disorders easier for patients.

Boston Scientific Corp. has received a thumbs up from the U.S. FDA for its fourth-generation Vercise Genus deep brain stimulation (DBS) system. The neuromodulation device, which comes in both rechargeable and nonrechargeable versions, is intended to treat the symptoms of Parkinson’s disease. Vercise Genus is indicated for use in the bilateral stimulation of subthalamic nucleus as an adjunctive therapy in alleviating some of the symptoms of moderate to advanced lepodova-responsive Parkinson’s disease that are not adequately controlled by medication. It also has indications for bilateral stimulation of the globus pallidus.

Medtronic plc reported that the first patient has been enrolled in the Adaptive DBS Algorithm for Personalized Therapy in Parkinson's Disease (ADAPT-PD) study its trial evaluating the safety and efficacy of adaptive deep brain stimulation (aDBS) in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD). This type of stimulation is an investigational feature of the Percept PC device that could be enabled if approved.

Medtronic plc has won the U.S. FDA’s nod for the first deep brain stimulation (DBS) system that integrates Brainsense, the company’s technology to sense and record brain signals for more personalized treatment. The next-generation Percept PC DBS with Brainsense is approved to treat symptoms associated with Parkinson’s disease, essential tremor, dystonia, epilepsy and obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Abbott Laboratories had a winning week, scoring U.S. FDA approval of its Infinity directional deep brain stimulation (DBS) system in treating symptoms of Parkinson’s disease not adequately managed by medication. The company also reported new data underscoring the benefits of its Proclaim XR neuromodulation system in people living with chronic pain.

SAN FRANCISCO – This was the final presentation for Omar Ishrak at the J.P. Morgan (JPM) Healthcare Conference. He has held the CEO position at Medtronic plc since June 2011. During that period, the Dublin-based company managed to roughly quadruple its valuation to $160 billion from $40 billion – making Ishrak’s tenure clearly a successful one.