Rune Labs Inc. is on a mission to make the mysteries of the brain easier to read for both clinicians and biopharma companies. Having a fresh $22.8 million in a series A financing on the books will no doubt make the goal easier to reach. The new round pushed total funding for development of the San Francisco-based company’s brain data software platform to $30.1 million.

Cala Health Inc. is moving quickly to establish leadership in treatment for essential tremor with its recent inclusion in the International Essential Tremor Foundation (IETF) guidelines as the only non-pharmacological, non-surgical treatment recommended and positive treatment results from a real-world study. “We’re very pleased with the validation from IETF and the research presented at MDS that demonstrates the impactful benefit of our therapy for those suffering from essential tremor,” said Kate Rosenbluth, founder and chief science officer of Cala Health.

Startup company Medial Earlysign Ltd. and Roche Diagnostics International Ltd. are teaming up to bring to market artificial intelligence (AI) solutions for early detection of cancer. Founded in 2013, Tel Aviv-based Medial Earlysign uses machine learning tools to flag patients with a high probability of developing specific illnesses. The partnership with Roche will initially focus on gastric cancer.

A comprehensive nontargeted metabolomics analysis has revealed previously unknown classes of disease-linked metabolites in whole blood samples from dementia patients, which may have significant therapeutic implications for managing the untreatable common cognitive disorder.

The NIH and CDC granted researchers at the Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research at Northwell Health $700,000 to investigate an in-the-ear stimulator as a treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in first responders to the attack on the World Trade Center 20 years ago. The researchers will enroll 30 World Trade Center first responders with chronic PTSD in a sham-controlled trial to test the effectiveness of a device that uses transcutaneous auricular stimulation of the vagus nerve, which has shown promise in preclinical studies.

TORONTO – Neupath Health Inc. and Cynergi Health Partners have signed a memorandum of understanding that could see Cynergi’s virtual reality (VR) software combined with Neupath’s remote pain management platform. The platform is expected to benefit from the therapeutic potential of Austin, Texas-based Cynergi’s Rilaxta VRx to lower patient anxiety and perception of pain as they walk through restful, VR-created landscapes. “We don’t see another group taking a similar, holistic approach to pain management that we are,” Neupath CEO Grant Connelly told BioWorld.

Vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) researchers notched another success with FDA approval of a drug-free rehabilitation system that uses the technology to help patients who have lost mobility in their hands and arms as a result of ischemic stroke regain function. Microtransponder Inc.’s Vivistim pairs rehabilitation exercises with VNS to enhance their impact. The clinical study evaluated by the FDA for the system's approval showed that Vivistim doubled the improvement in upper extremity motor function compared to supervised rehabilitative exercises alone at six weeks and 90 days.

Helius Medical Technologies Inc. has received an FDA breakthrough device designation for its Portable Neuromodulation Stimulator (Pons) device for temporary treatment of dynamic gait and balance deficits due to stroke.

TORONTO – Fluid Biotech Inc. has raised $4.7 million in oversubscribed seed funding to further develop and commercialize the world's first hybrid polymer-metal flow-diverting brain stent for curing brain aneurysms that can lead to stroke. Following successful preclinical studies of the stent, attention now turns to applying this fresh capital to hiring contract manufacturers to prepare for first-in-human implantation and production of the mostly polymer-constructed stent.

For most people, neither polyglutamine disorders nor neuromuscular disorders are likely to be among the things they associate with androgen receptor (AR) dysfunction. But the three are indeed linked. And researchers have reported new insights into the nature of those links that could lead to a treatment for spinal and bulbar muscular atrophy, and possibly other disorders linked to AR signaling dysfunction.