Even in a slow news cycle, count on Brain Computer Interfaces.
On the heels of last month’s Blackrock funding, Neuralink’s threaded wire-breaking snafu and Synchron’s market expansion remind us that commercializing BCI is a marathon, not a sprint.
Other commercial news this month: Funding, Partnerships, and a SPAC.
The most interesting discussion I saw was in response to this anecdote about the differences between technical experts and neuroethicists making BCI predictions. Anybody can be an expert these days, but the role carries some responsibility.
In educating the public, technical details probably matter more than ethical speculation.
The most thought-provoking article I read was STAT’s two-year, ongoing investigation of Mt. Sinai’s Living Brain Project, wherein two doctors have been removing 2 cubic cm brain samples from people. OHSU neurosurgeon Kim Burchiel says the unwarranted brain biopsies, based on heavily scrutinized DBS-based claims about equivalency to cauterized tissue loss are “almost Geneva Conventions stuff.”
In protecting the public, ethical details probably matter more than technical speculation.
For neurotechnology to become an interdisciplinary field, experts will have to trust each others’ intentions and intelligence enough to identify areas where collaborating makes more sense than not. Communication has to improve. It’s one of the reasons I’ve taken to calling myself a “translator.” Let’s try to agree that safeguarding human dignity, safety, and autonomy is the foundation for advancing innovation in brain health.
Otherwise when we look back, we might realize too late that we’ve “lost the thread.”
Scroll down for notables, events, a brand new jobs section, and more.
Avoiding Neurotech's Theranos
Funding
Neurable raises $13M from Ultratech Capital Partners, TRAC, Pace Ventures, and Metaplanet (TechCrunch)
Neuroclues raises €5 million for eye-tracking neurodegenerative detection (Neuroclues)
EarliTec Diagnostics, Inc. Raises $21.5 Million in Series B Financing from Nexus NeuroTech Ventures and Venture Investors Health Fund (EarliTec)
Oculogica raises $7.6m for concussion testing tech (SEC)
Commercial
Neurosom launches special purpose vehicle to commercialize sleep-assistive TES device and cognitive health research (SEC, press release & video)
Notes: Interesting approach with a two-company ownership structure: Neurosom Inc. licenses technology from BEL, who has been leading grant research with NIH and DOD. This document claims pursuit of a 510k or deNovo clearance, but also that they will market directly to consumers.
Synchron Aims to Expand to Treat Parkinson’s & Epilepsy (Bloomberg)
Read: Dr. Oxley on Synchron’s Thesis for Interventional Neurology
Neuralink’s First Brain-Chip Implant in a Human Appeared Flawless. There Was a Problem. (WSJ) (PCMag) (Wired)
Integral Neurotech emerges from stealth, with team, jobs (Milan Cvitkovic /X)
Takeda bets $100M upfront on AC Immune's anti-amyloid Alzheimer's vaccine (Endpoints)
GE HealthCare debuts head-only MRI scanner dedicated to studying Alzheimer's, psychiatry and more (Fierce)
CIONIC Unveils New Offerings to Address Full Spectrum of Mobility Challenges (BusinessWire)
Exosuit Muscle Control Steps Closer to Reality Brain-guided muscle stimulation finds relief with electronic clutch system (IEEE)
Regulatory
FDA has updated their database of AI/ML-enabled medical devices, up to date through 3/31/24 (FDA)
Magnus Medical Rolls Out SAINT Neuromod Therapy for Major Depression, reveals approval for a New Technology Add-on Payment from CMS (Medical Product Outsourcing)
Remo Health chosen for CMS GUIDE program (Business Wire)
Cool Jobs at Cool Companies
New Feature Alert! Need help hiring? Email me with the role(s) you’re interested in sharing here. Please note that a small placement fee applies.
Augmental: Lead Electronics Engineer (Full Time, San Francisco)
Augmental: Lead Firmware Engineer (Full Time, San Francisco)
Articles, Analysis, Resources
Tivic Health announced the completion of a non-invasive vagus nerve stimulation study (Tivic)
Notices of change for select BRAIN Initiative funding opportunities (BRAIN)
NeuroNEXT Other Transaction Authority Informational Webinar (NINDS)
How CNS Trials Transform with Innovative Digital Tech (CT Vanguard)
Kernel’s Preprint: Time-Domain Diffuse Optical Tomography for Precision Neuroscience (bioRxiv)
Say What? Brain–computer interface experiments first to decode words 'spoken' entirely in the brain in real time (Medical xPress, Nature Human Behavior)
Ten years of neuroscience at Google yields maps of human brain (Google)
“One detail that helps bring to life how impressive this is – and how much further we have to go – is that the part of the brain the team reconstructed is only about half the size of a grain of rice.”(SVP James Manyika on LinkedIn)
NeuroTech Institute Unites Ohio State University and Battelle to Advance Brain Science (Columbus Monthly)
Appealing Prior Authorization Denials: Can it be Effective for Emerging Technologies? (Diagnostic Imaging)
Found: the dial in the brain that controls the immune system (Nature)
Big Tech sees Neurotechnology as its next frontier (Yahoo Finance)
Neurotech News #2: Form Factor (Dynamic Neurotech)
The Need for New Language (Neurotech Nerds’ Nexus)
These books reveal why the brain is the biggest mystery of all (The Economist)
What you need to know about Brain Computer Interfaces (Forbes)
Non-Dilutive Funding, MTEC and the U.S. Military - Interview with David Hood and Scott Pantel (LSI)
Venture Capital Funding for Brain-Computer Interfaces outstrips DARPA dollars (From the Interface)
![BCI funding milestones BCI funding milestones](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa03f9bd1-34e3-485e-89a5-8b14f78aeae3_1000x703.png)
Neuroethics & Society
Brain-computer interfaces, venture capital, and the many challenges in law (LSJ)
Brain biopsies on ‘vulnerable’ patients at Mount Sinai set off alarm bells at FDA,
documents show (STAT) (Article)
Note: Two doctors have been removing 2-cubic cm brain tissue samples from hundreds of living patients (!) based on heavily scrutinized DBS-related research protocols, whose review was bungled by the FDA in 2013, and whose subsequent FDA red flag review was somehow ignored by HHS in 2019. This is still going on, now at 2 sites. Who can stop this? Who is willing to try?
Definition of Implanted Neurological Device Abandonment: A Systematic Review and Consensus Statement (JAMA - Tim Marjenin on LinkedIn)
Note: This 2022 piece on “Neurotechnology Abandonment” is a good overview on this underdiscussed issue. See my note above re: interdisciplinary.
Possibly related: Medical device recalls are shockingly slow and ineffective. A startup says it has a better way (Fast Company)
🗓️ Events & Community
Recap: American Society of Neurorehabilitation’s 2024 Conference (ASNR)
Recap: Silver Threads: Weaving the Caregiving Tapestry (Milken Institute)
Recap: Rice University’s Interface2024 (Rice)
May 21 - 22: Foresight Neurotech, BCI and WBE for Safe AI Workshop - Berkeley (Foresight Institute)
May 31: Alzheimer's Disease and Related Dementias Digital Pilot Program from NACC & Gates Ventures - Pitch Event/Webinar - (NACC)
June 3-6: BIO 2024 - San Diego (BIO)
June 10-16: Neurotech, WBE, & BCI -
(Foresight Institute & Edge Esmeralda)June 12: (The Inaugural) Silicon Valley Neurotech Forum (RSVP)
June 17-18: 10th Annual BRAIN Initiative Conference - Rockville, MD (NIH)
June 24: Hackathon: Ethical Future with NeuroAI - Vienna, Austria (FENS Forum)
August 02: Neuraseed BCI Expo - Virtual (Neuraseed BCI)
Sept 19: Brainbox Initiative Conference 2024 for Non-Invasive Brain Stimulation - London (BrainBox)
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