Researchers from Stanford University have developed a new AI tool, dubbed HeadXNet that detects brain aneurysms from computed tomographic angiography (CTA) scans. Their work, recently published in JAMA Network Open, demonstrates that their AI tool helped radiologists identify 6 more scans with aneurysm for every 100 scans already diagnosed with ane (Read more...)
Tag: Neurology
EmoGraphy by Philips Monitors and Predicts Stress: Interview with Navin Natoewal
Philips has recently launched EmoGraphy, a stress management technology to measure someone’s stress levels and then predict them an hour into the future. The company worked out the sensing and algorithm calculation methods, and are now licensing their technology to firms that want to expand it into their devices. We met with Navin Natoewal, t (Read more...)
Crisper MRI Now Possible Thanks to Helical Resonator Metamaterials
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a complicated imaging modality and improving it requires a deep understanding of the physics involved. Scientists at Boston University have been working on improving MRI’s signal-to-noise ratio using special metamaterials that are made of arrays of helical resonators. Each of these resonators is just a piec (Read more...)
Scientists Develop Accurate Model of Blood-Brain Barrier
The blood-brain barrier (BBB) is the primary reason that so few medicines exist to treat brain conditions. Drugs that can attack tumors elsewhere usually can’t penetrate the defenses of the BBB, so figuring out how to get through it is important for the development of future drugs and other therapies. There have been attempts to […]
Sensory Substitution Improves Speech Understanding in Hearing Impaired
Our brains are incredibly adept at adjusting to new challenges, a general concept known as neuroplasticity. Some blind people are known to use echolocation, and now there’s a proof of concept for a similar idea for those that can’t hear well. A group of Israeli and Polish scientists have developed a “sensory substitution device,&r (Read more...)
Sensory Substitution Improves Speech Understanding in Hearing Impaired
Our brains are incredibly adept at adjusting to new challenges, a general concept known as neuroplasticity. Some blind people are known to use echolocation, and now there’s a proof of concept for a similar idea for those that can’t hear well. A group of Israeli and Polish scientists have developed a “sensory substitution device,&r (Read more...)
ReWalk Exo-Suit Gets Green Light in U.S., Europe to Aid Stroke Recovery
ReWalk Robotics, a company with offices in Marlborough, Massachusetts and Yokneam Ilit, Israel, won FDA approval and a CE mark for its ReStore Exo-Suit, clearing the device for sale in the United States and EU countries. The ReStore Exo-Suit had its beginnings at Harvard’s Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering. It is made (Read more...)
Radiology Professor Creates Beautiful Art Using MRI Scanner
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) can produce a great deal of data about the tissues it images. Controlling how an MRI scans and then analyzing its data in novel ways can lead to interesting perspectives on the human body. Dr. Denis Ducreux, a professor at the University of Paris-Sud and head of the Diagnostic Neuroradiology Department […]
Virtual Reality Used to Spot Early Signs of Alzheimer’s Disease
Researchers from the University of Cambridge demonstrated the potential for virtual reality (VR) to serve as a diagnostic tool for diagnosing early Alzheimer’s disease more effectively than existing tests. The research is based on findings that the cells in the brain’s internal “global positioning system” of the entorhinal c (Read more...)
Nerivio Migra Wins FDA De Novo Clearance for Acute Treatment of Migraines
Theranica, a company based in Israel, won FDA De Novo clearance for its Nerivio Migra smartphone-operated electroceutical device for treating migraine headaches. The device is worn around the upper arm, from where it delivers electronic pulses into the skin to generate a so-called “Conditioned Pain Modulation” response. This helps to mi (Read more...)
Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Improves Working Memory
Researchers from Duke University School of Medicine have found that magnetic brain stimulation can help improve working memory. They studied repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS), showing that it improved memory task performance in all ages of adults. Given that individuals with Alzheimer’s will more than double by 2050, rTMS ma (Read more...)
EEG May be Used to Diagnose, Assess Severity of Parkinson’s Disease
Parkinson’s disease can be hard to diagnose in its early stages, and monitoring its progression is just as difficult. Current methods are mostly subjective, with physicians visually assessing patients during a variety of tasks. Having access to more objective tools may help doctors establish diagnoses fast, guide the type of therapies that ar (Read more...)
Neuroform Atlas Stent System FDA Approved to Treat Brain Aneurysms with Embolic Coils
The FDA has issued Stryker with approval for the company’s Neuroform Atlas Stent System. It is indicated for treatment of wide-neck, intracranial aneurysms in conjunction with embolic detachable coils, so far only the second stent approved for such procedures. The nitinol Neuroform Atlas stent is used to hold tiny metal coils inside an aneury (Read more...)
Brain Controlled-Hearing Aid Separates Voices in a Crowd
When we are at a party and talking to someone, our brain is able to identify a single speaker’s voice and focus our hearing on it, helping us to listen more closely and ignore the other voices nearby. For the millions of people with hearing impairment who use hearing aids, they often lose this ability, […]
Microscopic Graphene Flakes to Stop Epileptic Seizures
During epileptic seizures, the brain’s excitatory neurons go haywire, generating extreme amounts of electric activity. There are already electronic devices available that help to prevent and mitigate seizures, but so far they’re only effective in some patients while having all the downsides of a serious implantation. A team of European (Read more...)
Artificial Intelligence to Speed up Alzheimer’s Disease Research
Researchers from UC Davis and UC San Francisco have developed a new artificial intelligence tool to scale up Alzheimer’s research. They have created a deep learning system to identify amyloid plaques in brain slices of patients, spotting specific subtypes of Alzheimer’s disease, in the process enabling precision medicine and faster rese (Read more...)
Rewellio Offers a New Approach to Utilizing EMG-Biofeedback in Stroke Rehab: Interview with Rewellio’s CEO
Rewellio, an Austrian software company, is trying to revolutionize stroke rehabilitation by building an app, which integrates with readily available consumer electronic devices such as tablets and virtual reality headsets, to make stroke rehabilitation more engaging and accessible. The company recently launched the first version of its app, which f (Read more...)
IRRAS Rolling Out New Irrigating Cerebrospinal Fluid Catheter System for Hydrocephalus
Swedish medical device company IRRAS is attempting to change the way neurosurgeons and neurointensivists handle the problem of acute hydrocephalus. Hydrocephalus is the abnormal accumulation of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) in the brain, and is often caused by hemorrhage, tumor, infection, or traumatic brain injury. Traditionally, surgeons use an exter (Read more...)
Looking to the Future of Neuro Devices: Exclusive Interview with Alcyone Lifesciences CEO PJ Anand
Alcyone Lifesciences is a medical technology company based out of Lowell, MA, which specializes in central nervous system (CNS) drug delivery platforms for targeted infusions of the brain or spinal cord. Their Thecaflex DRx System was recently awarded Breakthrough Device designation by the FDA, for spinal infusion of therapeutic medications. Medgad (Read more...)
Technique Combines Tumor Scans with Math Algorithms to Create Comples Tumor Models
Tumors can have a great deal of internal complexity, something which plays a central role in how cancer grow and protects themselves from attack. Understanding the structure of different types of tumors and how they come about may give researchers a way to address tumor growth. Currently, tumor models are fairly basic and don’t really [&helli (Read more...)