Akili Interactive Labs Inc. has made grabbing and holding attention a distinguishing feature of its digital therapeutics and overall company strategy. Last month, it made news with its hire of gaming industry veteran Jon David as its chief product officer. Now, a study indicates a new product in development may help people with depression extend their attention span and possibly improve cognition, two common symptoms associated with the mood disorder that are not treated by most medications.

Boston Scientific Corp.’s image-guided programming software, Vercise Neural Navigator with Stimview XT, got the green light from the FDA for use with the company’s deep brain stimulation (DBS) portfolio in patients with essential tremor or Parkinson’s disease. The software, developed in a collaboration with Brainlab AG, provides more sophisticated image-guided programming tools for personalization of the stimulation therapy, halving the time needed for adjustments and increasing precision.

Meduni Vienna, the Medical University of Vienna, Austria, is working on a novel eye scanner combining the structural and functional sensitivity of optical coherence tomography (OCT) with the chemical specificity of Raman spectroscopy, to acquire data from the living human eye.

Quanterix Corp.’s Simoa technology helped drive a large, international study to establish reference ranges of serum neurofilament light chain (sNfL) to assess individual disease activity and drug response in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients. The study, published in The Lancet Neurology, utilized Simoa’s ability to precisely detect sNfL protein at ultra-low levels, enabling it to be reliably measured across a broad range of healthy individuals.

Valuations in the med-tech space lately call into question the old medical adage: “If you hear hoofbeats, think horses.” These days, you would be wise to consider unicorns in the differential diagnosis. Two new companies achieved the formerly rare status just this week. Viz.ai Inc.’s closing today of a $100 million series D financing propelled it into the stratosphere with a $1.2 billion valuation, joining Bostongene LLC which completed its own $150 million round Wednesday.

Elekta AB signed a commercial agreement with GE Healthcare Co. Ltd. to expand hospital access to radiotherapy. Marlborough, Mass.-based GE Healthcare said it will combine its precision imaging solutions with Elekta’s radiation therapy portfolio to provide hospitals worldwide with a more comprehensive oncology offering.

Carthera SA reported results from a pilot clinical trial to evaluate the safety and efficacy of its Sonocloud technology in patients with mild Alzheimer’s disease (AD). The results, published in Alzheimer’s Research and Therapy, show early promise of the treatment in reducing the amyloid load of AD and potentially other neurological conditions as well as to stimulate neurogenesis and improve cognitive performance.

SK Biopharmaceuticals Co. Ltd.'s three-pronged plan for tackling epilepsy is going strong, with lead drug cenobamate for drug-resistant focal-onset seizures nearing the finish line, and earlier-stage programs for a mRNA-based approach and a digital therapeutic in the works.

Australia’s Therapeutics Goods Administration (TGA) cleared Orthocell Ltd.’s regenerative nerve repair device, Remplir, a biological scaffold that mimics the outer layer of the peripheral nerve to facilitate nerve repair.

After a challenging 2021, nerve repair company Axogen Inc. is focusing on building clinical data to turn around its luck. The Alachua, Fla.-headquartered company reported disappointing fourth quarter results, with procedure volume negatively impacted due to COVID-19 and hospital staffing. The Nasdaq-listed company is anticipating results from a major phase III pivotal study comparing its flagship nerve graft product Avance to commercially available products in the second quarter of 2022.