Neurotech Notables #27: March 2025

Marching Forward

🍀Happy Monday! Welcome new readers, and welcome back to the rest.

On the home front, work front, and in neurotech land, it’s a busy and productive time, growing more so by the month.

Another two weeks gone by, another $100m+ in fresh funding for startups around the world. As usual, it’s a full slate of commercial news and views in this edition.

• FDA decisions on new program participants, product clearances march forward alongside multiple major clinical studies, despite ongoing turmoil at the agency. More NIH Cuts, whose impacts are already hitting, far and worldwide. And strange NHS news.

• New product launches, subsidiaries, spinouts, and leadership appointments indicate a busy business development season afoot. It’s exciting when lines are blurring between industry and research, but not in the bad way. New papers at the commercial-innovation axis span the gamut, from incorporating wearables and digital health tools in clinical studies, to emerging best practices in design and deployment of implanted interfaces.

• Neurotech continues emerging into the mainstream, with new research on public perceptions, global leadership initiatives at the WEF, and a growing list of companies building direct to consumer offerings. Mainstream coverage of companies big and small continues.

• Rat Model: The other day, after trying to watch Ratatouille with my toddler (he got scared), I found myself wondering about Remy’s motor cortex control of Linguine’s hands. After this edition’s paper on gustatory decoding interfaces, I wonder what the future of fine dining holds...

Thanks for reading, “liking,” sharing, and reaching out with feedback and collaborative ideas. One CEO just told me he loves buts hates seeing it hit his inbox, because it always leaves him with an extra 50 tabs open…🫶

From my browser to yours, then, happy Saint Paddy’s. Hope you find a pot of gold or a lucky charm by the end of your scroll through this colorful spectrum of commercial developments and nerdy news galore🌈

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NANS

• Registration Now Open for Neural Interfaces 2025, June 12-14 in Arlington, VA

TTP

• How can we develop smaller implantable neurostimulators, and why does size matter? - Read more

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Funding

• MicroTransponder raises $65M for nerve stim tech (MassDevice)

• Neuromod Closes €10m Financing to Accelerate Commercialisation (Neuromod Devices)

• Strolll Raises £10.35M in Series A Funding (FinSME)

• Nervonik Raises $13M for Nerve Stimulation Tech (Mass Device)

• GEM HEALTH Secures $7 Million Series A to Scale Transformative Virtual Sleep Care (PR Newswire)

• PacifiCan's $18.3-million funding announcement to seven B.C. based companies, including $3.7-million to HealthTech Connex Inc. to help expand their NeuroCatch® Platform (PacifiCan)

• ONWARD Medical announces $2.5m in grant funding for Parkinson’s Disease Pipeline from The Michael J. Fox Foundation and US Department of Defense (MorningStar)

• MEXA announces launch of the Generative AI for Mental Health Research Accelerator (LinkedIn)

• Scaling its Investment Platform in Minimally Invasive Care, Intuitive Ventures Appoints Terri Burke as Senior Partner and Ross Jaffe as Venture Advisor (BusinessWire)

• March Neuroscience Newsletter (Dragonfly 44 Capital) - Excellent resource here. Make sure to subscribe!

Commercial

• Hemostemix and Firefly Neuroscience Launch New Vascular Dementia Collaboration (The New Money)

• Rune Labs launches StrivePD Guardian, HSA/FSA-eligible direct pay offering (LinkedIn)

• Charco appoints Katrina Gwinn MD, FAAN as Chief Medical Officer (LinkedIn)

• Johnson & Johnson MedTech appoints Michael Bodner as Company Group Chairman of Electrophysiology and Neurovascular (LinkedIn)

• Helius Medical Technologies, Inc. Announces the Establishment of a Wholly Owned Brain Computer Interface (“BCI”) Technology Private Subsidiary (Helius) - I wrote about this in Friday’s Insider.

• PathMaker Neurosystems Announces Issuance of Three Patents Protecting the Use of Company's Proprietary Neuromodulation Technology in ALS (GlobeNewswire)

• Torpedo Therapeutics announces patent issued for “micro-electrodes in adaptive closed-loop DBS stimulation control” (LinkedIn)

• Elon Musk’s Neuralink Files Trademark for ‘Telepathy’ (Wired)

• Beacon Biosignals appoints Emily Mitchell as new Vice President of Clinical Study Operations (Beacon Biosignals)

• Mark Hutchinson joins Beechband as CEO (LinkedIn)

• Opto.bio appoints Jason Miranda as Director of Translation (LinkedIn)

• Valencia Technologies Appoints Richard W. Klauer as Vice President of Sales (PR Newswire)

• Comphya Welcomes Pim van Wesel as Advisor to the Board of Directors (Compyha)

• Vivani to Spin Out Neurostim Business, Focus on GLP-1 Implant (Drug Delivery Business)

• Brainomix, Medtronic ink deal on AI in stroke care (MassDevice)

• electroCore, Inc. Announces Agreement with Spark Biomedical Inc. to Distribute Sparrow Ascent for Opioid Withdrawal (Electrocore)

• Openwater Announces New CEO as Demand for Portable Imaging and Non-Invasive Therapy Devices Accelerates (Business Wire)

  • Related: mMary Lou Jepsen: The Story Behind Openwater and Its Revolutionary Medical Technology (Investment Reports)

• Helius Medical Technologies Inc. Announces First Reimbursement by a Major Healthcare Provider for Its Portable Neuromodulation Stimulator (PONS) Device (Helius Medical Technologies)

• CEFALY Selects PayrHealth to Support Payor Contracting for Its Migraine Treatment Device (PR Newswire)

• Lindus Health and Tiefenbacher Group Launching Clinical Trial to Advance ME/CFS Research and Treatment (Lindus Health)

  • Love this. Lindus is really starting to live up to their name as the “Anti-CRO”: “Participants will be required to wear the Oura ring for continuous remote monitoring and use the GripAble device for hand grip testing.”

• Eisai’s $100m offer for care monitoring company EcoNaviSta inc includes digital brain tests powered by CogState (LinkedIn)

• Neuronic Launches the Neuronic LIGHT: A New Era in tPBM Light Therapy (BusinessWire)

Regulatory & Reimbursement

• Phantom Neuro Receives FDA Breakthrough Device and TAP Designations (PR Newswire)

• MedRhythms Announces FDA Class II Listing for Movive™ to Support Gait Rehabilitation and Motor Function for Parkinson's Disease (PR Newswire)

• Scoop: EpiWatch, Inc gets 510k for EpiWatch Monitoring System (FDA)

  • I don’t usually scoop anything besides ice cream, but this one’s a courtesy of Brian Dolan - if you’re not subscribed to Exits & Outcomes you’re doing it wrong!

• Enrollment Begins in Phase 2 Trial for Sinaptica’s Second-Generation Neuromodulation System (MPO Mag)

• NeuroOne Accelerates FDA Submission Timeline for Nerve Ablation (Mass Device)

• Sooma Medical Announces Pivotal FDA IDE Clinical Trial for At-Home Brain Stimulation Device for Depression Treatment (Sooma Medical)

• Paradromics Announces Principal Investigators at UCDavis and MGH for the Connexus BCI Clinical Study (PR Newswire)

• Enspire DBS Therapy Announces the First Patient Implanted in the Second Center for RESTORE, a Multicenter Pivotal Phase 2/3 Clinical Trial for the Treatment of Arm Weakness and Reduced Function After Stroke (PR Newswire)

• Cognixion Launches Clinical Trial for Late-Stage ALS to Deliver Conversation Level Communication with Adaptive AI-Driven Brain-Computer Interface (Access Newswire)

• Spark Biomedical Receives Health Canada License (Spark Biomedical)

• U.S. BRAIN Initiative Set to Lose $81 Million This Year (The Transmitter)

• Brain Initiative Research Leads to FDA Approval of Adaptive Deep Brain Stimulation (NIH Brain Initiative | LinkedIn )

  • Hey Medtronic: Congrats on aDBS, but don’t forget: bold public defense of NIH BRAIN demands your PR muscle, too.

• FDA Blocks Drug and Device Reviewers from Taking HHS Buyout Offer (Endpoints News)

• FDA Review Departments Largely Spared from Musk-Led Cuts (Endpoints News)

• To my UK readers: Can someone explain what is going on with the NHS and what it means for Neurotech companies today (and patients tomorrow?) (LinkedIn)

Neurotech Insider #3: BCI BS, Commercial Culture, Recycled Innovation, Join my Investor Rolodex, and More

Industry

• Verily’s Retinal Camera in Clinical Practice: A Retina Specialist’s Perspective (LinkedIn)

• New in Human Flourishing - March 2025 (Satori Neuro)

• Ampa: Q&A with Don Vaughn (Satori Neuro)

• Synchron: Motor activity in gamma and high gamma bands recorded with a Stentrode from the human motor cortex in two people with ALS (Journal of Neural Engineering)

• Bluewind Medical Shares Two-Year Study Results for Revi System (Medical Product Outsourcing)

• Science Corp: Biohybrids Threaten Neuralink and Others (Neurotech Notes) - If you wanted a meaty deep dive on Biohybrid BCI, here it is.

• Companies developing Hypoglossal Nerve Stim therapies for OSA (Medtech Strategist)

  

• Motor Neuron Diseases Took Their Voices. AI Is Bringing Them Back (MIT Technology Review)

  • “Then came the voice clones. ElevenLabs has been developing AI-generated voices for use in films, televisions, and podcasts since it was founded three years ago, says Sophia Noel, who oversees partnerships between the company and nonprofits. The company’s original goal was to improve dubbing, making voice-overs in a new language seem more natural and less obvious. But then the technical lead of Bridging Voice, an organization that works to help people with ALS communicate, told ElevenLabs that its voice clones were useful to that group, says Noel. Last August, ElevenLabs launched a program to make the technology freely available to people with speech difficulties.”

• IEEE Brain Joins the American Brain Coalition (IEEE)

• M&A and Strategic Insights with Medtronic’s Kip Roberts (Sanjeev Valentine)

• Are Hospitals Really Losing Money on Your Device? Maybe Not! (LinkedIn)

• Capturing the Brain’s Unique Signature and Its Sensitivity to Lifestyle Factors (MyndSpan)

• Samphire’s Emilė Radytė: Why I’m Building Neurotechnology (NeurotechX)

• MemoryCareAI rebrands to Scienza Health (LinkedIn)

• CyberhumanAI and Elemind Technologies Announce Partnership to Revolutionize Sleep (PR Newswire)

• Horizon Recovery Invests $3 Million in Critical Teen Mental Health Services with Sixth Arizona Facility (PR Newswire)

• InvasiveBCI Map (GraceGerwe) - This is super cool!

• Biotronik and Implantable Devices — A Tale of Two Strategics, Part Two (LSI)

• Progress Barriers Encountered by Stroke, TBI, and Dementia Patients (Constant Therapy)

• Gamified Screening Tool in Singapore Detects Early Dementia in 15 Minutes (MobiHealthNews)

• Company Profile: Verasonics - Focused Ultrasound Foundation (Focused Ultrasound Foundation)

• ICL Neurotech Monthly Newsletter (ICL)

NeurotechTV

• Marijuana and Mental Health, with Harold C. Urschel III, MD, MMA, and Francesca Filbey, PhD (Center for Brain Health)

  • If a venture studio funded me to build anything in neurotech, cannabis use disorder would be my #1 priority. If you run a venture studio you should email me about this!

• JuneBrain’s OCT technology featured in WBAL (LinkedIn)

• OBI Public Talks - Wellness Series: Tech for Better Brain Health (OBI)

• Interview with Matt Angle, CEO and Founder of Paradromics (Wormhole Capital)

• Discussion of SAINT Neuromodulation at Kaizen Brain Center (LinkedIn)

Society

• Neuromodulation perception by the general public (Nature)

  

  More of this kind of research, please! Source: Nature

• World Economic Forum's Global Future Council on Neurotechnology for the 2025-2026 term, led by Tom Oxley & Nita Farahany (LinkedIn)

  • See also this pair of posts by co-chairs: Neuralink’s AI Alignment Thesis Is Incomplete. We Need to Think More Deeply About Cognitive Autonomy in the Age of AI-Driven BCIs (Tom Oxley)

    In Response to Tom Oxley on BCI and AI Alignment (Nita Farahany)

• The 'Brussels 4': essential requirements for implantable brain–computer interface user autonomy (Journal of Neural Engineering)

• Diagnosing Alzheimer’s in People With No Symptoms (AARP)

• New Estimate Suggests 25 Million People with Parkinson’s by 2050 (Michael J Fox Foundation)

• Parenthood Helps Your Brain Defy Aging, Study Shows (The Bump)

• Nonlinear Aging: How Our Bodies Change as We Get Older (The New York Times)

• Scaling Psychedelic Therapies in the Health System: Perceptions, Attitudes, and Barriers Related To Psychedelic Therapy Implementation: A Survey of Health Professionals (BrainFutures)

• The AI Brain Effects: How Technology Like Phones Is Changing Us (Vox)

  • Related: This damning report from Financial Times

• A Neurologic Assessment of the Salem Witch Trials (Practical Neurology)

• Virtual Reality Taste: A New Frontier in Sensory Experience (The New York Times)

• There's Sandwich Bag Plastic in Your Brain (Medscape)

• How Brain Activity Can Reveal What Makes You Thrive (Greater Good Science Center)

• Addressing Hearing Loss Sooner Could Be Key to Tackling Dementia (Pursuit)

• Could a Chronic Gut Infection Trigger Alzheimer's? (Being Patient)

• The Challenge of Informed Consent (The Frontier Psychiatrists)

• Why there's always room for dessert, according to brain science (NPR)

Research

This is a brilliant, extremely important paper. Overcoming Failure: Improving acceptance and success of implanted neural Interfaces (Source)

• Overcoming failure: improving acceptance and success of implanted neural interfaces (Bioelectronic Medicine)

  • As implanted BCI companies emerge in greater numbers, this should be required reading for founders (and investors!) to chart the course.

• Open Brain Institute (OBI) launches with virtual neuroscience laboratory (OBI)

• Editorial – Autism and Dementia and Alzheimer’s Disease (Autism Research Review)

• Comparative Review of Seizure and Cognitive Outcomes in Resective, Ablative, and Neuromodulatory Temporal Lobe Epilepsy Surgery (Epilepsy Currents | LinkedIn)

  

• The blood–brain barrier: a help and a hindrance (Brain)

• Transforming the evidence landscape in mental health with platform trials (Nature Mental Health)

• Smartwatch- and smartphone-based remote assessment of brain health and detection of mild cognitive impairment (Nature Medicine)

  • I don’t understand this detail: This Biogen funded study of Apple products was “terminated early as part of Biogen's ongoing research and development portfolio management efforts.”

• Assessment of cognitive function in bipolar disorder with passive smartphone keystroke metadata: a BiAffect digital phenotyping study (Frontiers in Psychiatry)

• One's Trash Is Another's Treasure: Subthreshold Kilohertz Brain Modulation as a Side Effect and as an Intervention (Brain Stimulation Journal)

• The impact of transcranial random noise stimulation (tRNS) on alpha coherence and verbal divergent thinking (MIT)

• A practical guide to transcranial ultrasonic stimulation from the IFCN-endorsed ITRUSST consortium (Clinical Neurophysiology)

• Changes in brain’s ‘sugar shield’ could be key to understanding effects of aging (Stanford)

• Challenges and Opportunities for FAIR African Brain Data: An Experiential Research Approach (Frontiers in Neuroinformatics)

• Machine Learning in Electroconvulsive Therapy: A Systematic Review (PubMed)

• Combining Video Telemetry and Wearable MEG for Enhanced Brain Activity Monitoring (MIT Press)

• Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Combined With Multimodality Aphasia Therapy for Chronic Poststroke Aphasia (Neurology)

• Rewiring the Brain: How Non-Invasive Tech Is Tackling Anxiety, Insomnia, Obesity (Rosenman Institute)

• A Sensor-Actuator–Coupled Gustatory Interface Chemically Connecting Virtual and Real Environments for Remote Tasting (Science Advances)

• The Next Frontier in Neuroprosthetics: Integration of Biomimetic Somatosensory Feedback (Biomimetics)

• Prosthetic Robotic Hand Restores Sensation and Dexterity in Paralyzed Patients (Johns Hopkins University)

• Carnegie Mellon Researchers Discover New Minimally Invasive Method for Deep Brain Stimulation to Treat Depression and Other Neural Conditions (Business Wire)

• Design considerations for optogenetic applications of soft micro-LED-based device systems across diverse nervous systems (Bioactive Materials)

  

  In case you’re wondering, yes, I am a sucker for pretty pictures. (Source)

• The Future of Brain Research: How Advances in Neuroscience Are Changing Our Understanding of the Brain (Nature)

• Advances in Bioelectronic Medicine: A Review of Recent Developments (Bioelectronic Medicine)

• World's first 'body in a box' biological computer uses human brain cells with silicon-based computing (Tom’s Hardware)

• A Study on the Role of Astrocytes in Neurological Disorders (Nature)

  Human neural dynamics of real-world and imagined navigation (Nature)

• Dareplane: a modular open-source software platform for BCI research with application in closed-loop deep brain stimulation (Journal of Neural Engineering | LinkedIn)

• Sonolucent cranial implants and wireless ultrasound let neurosurgeons see inside a patient’s brain (Medical Design Outsourcing)

• Human pulvinar stimulation engages select cortical pathways in epilepsy (bioRxiv)

• Advances in Neurostimulation for Treating Neurological Conditions (Nature Communications)

• Proceedings of the 12th Annual Deep Brain Stimulation Think Tank: Cutting Edge Technology Meets Novel Applications (Frontiers in Human Neuroscience)

• Interfacing with the Brain: How Nanotechnology Can Contribute (ACS Nano)

• Brain-Computer Interfaces: The Future of Human-Machine Interaction (IEEE Spectrum)

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