RapidAI, which focuses on imaging for stroke, has received the U.S. FDA’s nod for Rapid ASPECTS. According to the company, it is the first neuroimaging analysis device to gain clearance in the computer-assisted diagnostic software category.

Startup Nanodiagnostics Inc. has been working for years toward a panel of point-of-care tests, helmed by one for traumatic brain injury.

Two separate groups have recently shown that in mouse models, inactivation of a single gene was enough to directly convert other cell types in the brain into neurons.

Ekso Bionics Holdings Inc. has received a green light from the U.S. FDA to market its Eksonr robotic exoskeleton for use with patients with acquired brain injury (ABI). The company said it is the first exoskeleton product to receive the agency's nod for rehabilitation use with ABI, allowing a broader patient population to access the device. This is good news for Richmond, Calif.-based Ekso, which, like many other device companies, saw its earnings off during the first quarter.

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.

Mainstay Medical Holdings plc has won U.S. FDA approval for its Reactiv8 implantable neurostimulation device. The company is eyeing a commercial launch of the system in early 2021. The FDA approved Reactiv8 as an aid in managing intractable chronic low back pain associated with multifidus muscle dysfunction in adults who have failed therapy and are not candidates for spine surgery.

The potential for neurological complications, including seizures and stroke, is a growing concern with COVID-19 patients. To ensure rapid diagnosis and treatment, Ceribell Inc., a Mountain View, Calif.-based startup, is deploying its cloud-linked, portable electroencephalogram (EEG) device to enable EEG assessments in minutes in emergency rooms and intensive care units.

The disconnect between the need for sleep and the possession of a brain is what prompted Dragana Rogulja, an assistant professor of neurobiology in the Blavatnik Institute at Harvard Medical School, and her team to take a look at multiple tissues in sleep-deprived flies and mice.