The reach of the med-tech patent wars now includes devices for electroencephalography thanks to a complaint recently filed by Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Ceribell Inc. with the U.S. International Trade Commission. The company alleged infringement of six of its patents by two units under the Natus umbrella of companies, but this conflict is also under review in Delaware district court, promising a drawn-out conflict that may not resolve for years.
Subtyping is what made precision medicine in cancer a reality. And for successful drug discovery in all its stages, finding subtypes in Alzheimer’s disease is all but imperative.
Alterity Therapeutics Ltd. helped develop a new neuroimaging biomarker called the multiple system atrophy index (MSA-AI), which looks to be a more reliable biomarker for tracking disease progression of MSA. Developed using deep learning methods, the MSA-AI offers a superior, objective and quantifiable measure of brain atrophy in MSA patients.
Cortec GmbH implanted its brain-computer interface (BCI) system, Brain Interchange, into a stroke patient in late July, joining a host of other companies conducting clinical trials of their BCI technologies to help people affected by neurological conditions recover lost function and improve their quality of life.
Boston Scientific Corp. received CE mark certification under the Medical Device Regulation for its Intracept intraosseous nerve ablation system, bringing another treatment option to patients with chronic pain.
Roche Holding AG received CE mark for its Elecsys pTau181 test to help rule out Alzheimer’s disease. The minimally invasive blood test, developed in collaboration with Eli Lilly and Co., measures phosphorylated Tau 181 protein, a biomarker indicative of amyloid pathology, a hallmark of Alzheimer’s.
The switch will be flicked today to make the world’s largest dementia-related proteomics dataset freely available to researchers, at the same time as members of the consortium which compiled it publish the proteomics signatures of major neurodegenerative diseases that they uncovered in a first trawl of the data.
Insightec Ltd. received U.S. FDA approval for use of its Exablate Neuro device to address severe motor symptoms in patients with Parkinson’s disease, offering a new option for patients who have not found adequate relief from medications. Exablate Neuro uses focused ultrasound to create lesions in the brain without requiring an incision or implant.
The U.K. Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulator Agency dropped a guidance for digital mental health technologies that clarifies several key points, such as when the DMHT qualifies as software as a medical device.