Cryofocus Medtech (Shanghai) Co. Ltd. received U.S. FDA breakthrough device designation on July 24 for its cryoablation system for asthma. The Chinese med-tech’s stock (HKEX:6922) rose near 20% over two consecutive days on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange with the news, increasing from HK$5.00 ($.64) July 23 to HK$5.98 nearing the close of trading on July 25.

In what represents its first patenting, Roseville, Minn.-based Iveacare Inc. provides insights as to what its first therapeutic target will likely be since the developer of neuromodulation therapy devices emerged from stealth mode in April 2024 with the closing of $27.5 million series A financing.

Researchers from Case Western Reserve University have filed for patent protection for a system and method for treating obesity or other gastric and/or metabolic disorders via closed-loop vagus nerve stimulation.

Aurimod GmbH’s CEO, Stefan Kampusch, reported filing patent protection for a device for auricular punctual stimulation and the treatment of pain that comprises a current generator for generating stimulation current pulses and electrical lines for connection to an electrode to be positioned on the ear.

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) affects about 8 million Americans a year, disrupting lives with nightmares, memory loss, feelings of isolation and other negative effects. Treatment typically involves psychotherapy, but many patients do not find relief. To that end, the FDA has granted breakthrough device designation to Evren Technologies Inc. for its noninvasive Phoenix earbud device for treating PTSD.

Researchers at the Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research, the research arm of New York-based Northwell Health, illuminated the precise pathway from the brainstem to the spleen that controls inflammation in a study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (PNAS). Essentially, the work demonstrates how scientists could use the vagus nerve to hack the immune system, enabling them to turn down the excessive response that underlies autoimmune disease without the use of biologics or immunosuppressive drugs.

Researchers at the Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research, the research arm of New York-based Northwell Health, have developed a noninvasive method for targeting stimulation of the vagus nerve. Vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) offers promise for treatment of a wide range of conditions, given the nerve's extensive involvement in regulating many organs, but has been constrained by adverse effects caused by off-target activation of fibers.

Researchers at New York-based Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research, the research arm of Northwell Health, showed that anodal block can be used for directional vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) in a new paper in Scientific Reports.