Mediworld 07th MAY-JUNE LR

Interview
"The Parkinson's disease treatment
market size is expected to reach $5.69
billion by 2022 from $4.24 billion in
2017 at a CAGR of 6.1 per cent
between (2017- 2022) driven by the
growth in aging population"
Things (IoMT). The IoMT refers to a connected
infrastructure of medical devices and software
applications that can communicate with various
healthcare IT systems. The IoMT is being leveraged to
improve medical care by integrating neurological data
with other biometric diagnostics, thus providing
medical professionals with richer information with
which to make their decisions.
“The ability to link real-time neural recordings, imaging,
wearable diagnostic devices, and many other sources of
data will produce insights to the human condition
unlike ever seen before. Once this level of connectivity
is achieved, the addressable neuro-technology market
will widen significantly as these therapies start to
improve patient outcomes while also reducing the
overall burden of management”.
MICC technology
The latest generation of DBS devices allows physicians
to precisely steer the stimulation to target one specific
area of the brain – significantly reducing side effects
from unwanted stimulation.
“Our directional DBS systems use novel lead designs
with segmented electrodes that allow the activation of
individual electrode contacts. In addition, the
technology in the pulse generator that powers the leads
– the Multiple Independent Current Control (MICC)
technology – allows the physician to specify exactly the
amount of current needed for every contact of the
electrode”.
Through activating specific electrode contacts, and
defining the amount of stimulation for each contact,
stimulation precision is significantly increased. It is
similar to shining a light on a specific spot with a
flashlight. With the new systems, physicians now have
full control of the stimulation steering and an increased
set of stimulation options.
Harnessing recent advancement
“DBS works much like a pacemaker in that an
implantable battery send small electrical signals
through a wire, but instead of the wire going to the heart
it actually goes into the brain where it can help regulate
a malfunctioning network within the nervous system.
While DBS has been on market for nearly three decades,
it has seen very little innovation. Our system is
designed to harness recent advances in technology and
sense a patient brain activity to better understand the
various disease states and then ultimately respond to
neurological changes with custom, tailored stimulation.
“Right now, we are focused on movement disorders
such as Parkinson's, essential tremor, and dystonia.
There is a vast array of applications that are possible
beyond those areas but for now we are focused on those
indications”.
Raising awareness
Rosellini explains that the device is able to record
neurons in brain by sensing their 'Local Field Potential'
which is the electric potential recorded in the
extracellular space in brain tissue – essentially can
listen to the movement or oscillations within the
neurons and then derive the actual physiological state
of the patient's brain from the readings.
“We see a lot of commercial excitement and publicity
about the possibilities of the brain/ machine interface
and we believe that level of excitement and interest will
continue to grow as we deliver these ground-breaking
innovations and see the real life results of what
technology can do”.
Therapy response
“DBS provides such a life changing experience for
people living with Parkinson's that patient's have an
overwhelming positive response to the therapy. It's
hard to imagine how difficult life would be if simply
putting food to your mouth or dialing a phone were
suddenly taken away. The ability to regain
independence is a powerful benefit of the therapy.
“Our vision is to take DBS to the next level. We believe
by creating a system that allows for self-tuning, patient
specific therapy we will improve patient outcomes and
reduce the cost burden on the overall healthcare system
by reducing the clinical time required to manage the
existing therapy”.
Nexeon Medsystems is near completion of the
development of their product and will be submitting it
for regulatory approval this year. Will Rosellini
anticipates a swift approval followed by commercial
availability.
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