A first-in-human clinical trial conducted by researchers at the Cleveland Clinic demonstrated that deep brain stimulation (DBS) applied to the dentate nucleus region of the cerebellum could help patients recover function in their upper extremities up to three years after a stroke. Results of the study were published in Nature Medicine.

The European Commission has granted CE mark approval to Medtronic plc for its Inceptiv closed-loop rechargeable spinal cord stimulator (SCS). The device is the first Medtronic SCS to sense an individual’s biological cues and make adjustments in real time to control pain all day long. Dublin-based Medtronic plans to launch Inceptiv in Europe in the coming months.

The first special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) merger announced in 2023 has fallen apart. Aprinoia Therapeutics Inc. and Ross Acquisition Corp. II mutually agreed to call off the merger that had been valued at $280 million. The failed deal is part of a larger trend that has gained momentum in the past year as a struggling economy and tighter U.S. SEC restrictions dampened SPAC deals.

Imeka Solutions Inc. has received U.S. FDA 510(k) clearance for the Advanced Neuro Diagnostic Imaging system designed to provide neurologists and radiologists with vital reference information on cerebral white matter for better management of brain diseases such as Alzheimer’s. This comes on the heels of two new CPT 3 codes for quantitative brain MRI assessment which Imeka expects its clients will begin taking advantage of by January 2024.

For many sports injuries, return-to-play decisions are pretty straightforward: pain and swelling have dissipated, or an X-ray confirms that a bone has healed. For concussion, it’s not so clear. Though symptoms may resolve after a few days, the brain could still be vulnerable. Now, Cupertino, Calif.-based based startup Mindrhythm Inc. has developed a headset to assess concussion recovery using biometric measures and help doctors safely return concussed individuals to play.

Investigators have functionally linked the Alzheimer’s disease (AD) risk gene SORL1 to apolipoprotein E (ApoE) and clusterin, another apolipoprotein. The work, Tracy Young-Pearse told BioWorld, is part of an attempt to “try to understand different subtypes of Alzheimer’s disease.” It maps some of what Young-Pearse termed the “many molecular roads that lead to Alzheimer’s” – which, in turn, is the first step to setting up roadblocks. Young-Pearse is an associate professor in the Ann Romney Center for Neurologic Diseases at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School and co-leader of the Harvard Stem Cell Institute’s Nervous System Diseases Program. She is also the senior author of the paper describing the findings, which appeared online in Cell Reports on Aug. 22, 2023.

Brainaurora Medical Technology Ltd. has filed for an initial public offering (IPO) in Hong Kong to develop its digital therapeutics for the treatment of cognitive impairment diseases. The company claims to be the first in China to launch a digital therapeutics (DTx) product for cognitive impairment, as well as the largest company in China in terms of revenue from the commercialization of cognitive impairment DTx products in 2022.

Over the last six years, more than 20,000 patients have been implanted with the Sprint PNS system to manage acute or chronic pain, SPR Therapeutics Inc. reported. The 20,000th patient was treated for low back and leg pain with the Sprint Extensa XT system, which like the company’s other systems is implanted for 60 days in a minimally invasive surgery. The system uses percutaneous peripheral nerve stimulation (PNS) to recondition the central nervous system to provide long-term, significant relief from pain.

The study of six types of mental illnesses in a thousand brain regions has demonstrated the differences between individuals within each disorder. Using magnetic resonance images (MRI), scientists from Monash University in Australia analyzed the brain changes and built individual maps for each psychiatric disorder. Their results revealed differences between people with the same diagnosis, which could help refine assessments.

The U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has proposed to terminate the coverage with evidence development requirement for the use of positron-emission tomography (PET) imaging for patients suspected of suffering from beta amyloids, a marker of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). However, CMS is also considering a removal of the coverage policy that limits each patient to a single PET scan per lifetime, although the proposal to allow Medicare administrative contractors (MACs) to determine coverage is drawing fire from industry and physician groups alike.