Neurology Product Guide

Scientists Discover Gene That Controls Stem Cells In Central Nervous System

Jim Marino — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 10:53:43 +0000

Scientists at the Medical Research Council (MRC) have discovered that a gene called Sox9 plays a critical role in how stem cells behave and is crucial in the development of the central nervous system. These results could potentially help researchers manipulate stem cells in the brain and develop new regenerative treatments for stroke, Alzheimer’s disease or brain tumours. Human embryos develop their nervous systems very early on, from just after two weeks into a pregnancy.

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Bayer Launches Betaferon(R) In China

Jim Marino — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 10:39:56 +0000

Bayer Schering Pharma announced the upcoming launch in China of Betaferon® (interferon beta-1b) for the treatment of relapsing-remitting forms of multiple sclerosis (MS). With Betaferon and Gadovist®1.0, Bayer Healthcare China aims to provide Chinese multiple sclerosis patients with a comprehensive range of services from diagnosis to therapy. Gadovist 1.0, a contrast agent for use in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), has been approved in China for the diagnosis of diseases affecting the central nervous system.

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Medtronic Receives European CE Mark Approval For Deep Brain Stimulation Therapy For Refractory Epilepsy

Jim Marino — Thu, 23 Sep 2010 06:50:10 +0000

Medtronic, Inc. announced that the company has received CE (Conformité Européenne) Mark approval for Medtronic Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) Therapy in Europe as adjunctive treatment for partial-onset seizures in adults with medically refractory epilepsy. DBS therapy for epilepsy delivers controlled electrical pulses to a target in the brain called the anterior nucleus of the thalamus, which is part of a circuit involved in seizures.

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Salient Surgical Expands TRANSCOLLATION(R) Technology Into Brain Tumor Resection Procedures To Provide Quick And Effective Hemostasis

Jim Marino — Thu, 23 Sep 2010 06:47:50 +0000

Salient Surgical Technologies, Inc. has announced the availability of its AQUAMANTYS® bipolar sealer product line to US surgeons for use in brain tumor resection procedures. Already in wide use by neurosurgeons performing spinal fusion procedures, the AQUAMANTYS System helps surgeons prevent and stop bleeding during surgery – a process known as achieving hemostasis – while treating delicate areas such as the brain.

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Drug Halts And Can Even Reverse Diabetic Peripheral Neuropathy In Mice

Jim Marino — Tue, 14 Sep 2010 04:26:48 +0000

A drug developed at the University of Kansas has the potential to stop a debilitating condition of diabetes that often leads to pain in the extremities and even amputations, KU researchers have found. The researchers recently published an article showing that KU-32 can stop and even reverse diabetic peripheral neuropathy, or DPN, in mice. The condition leads to death of nerves in the extremities of individuals with diabetes.

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Aesculap Implant Systems, LLC Receives FDA 510(k) Clearance For The S4(R) Cervical Occipital Plating System

Jim Marino — Tue, 14 Sep 2010 04:16:27 +0000

The Aesculap Implant Systems S4 Cervical Occipital Plating System has been cleared for marketing by the FDA under K100147. The agency began review of the Special 510(k) on January 19, 2010 and received the Substantial Equivalence determination on July 23, 2010. The S4 Cervical Occipital Plating System is used to promote spinal fusion of the cervical and thoracic spine (C1-T3) and occipito-cervico-thoracic junction (occiput-T3) in patients with degenerative disease or fracture.

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K2M Receives 510(k) Clearance For Its CHESAPEAKE Anterior-Lumbar Stabilization System

Jim Marino — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 14:42:58 +0000

K2M, Inc. has announced it has received 510(k) clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to market its new CHESAPEAKE™ Anterior-Lumbar Stabilization System, a unique interbody device designed for stabilization of the spine through an anterior approach. The system provides screw fixation through K2M’s revolutionary tifix® Locking Technology, whereby each screw head forms an autogenic lock to the implant upon insertion.

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Eisai Announces The Start Of The First Clinical Study Of Ban2401, A Novel Monoclonal Antibody Targeting Neurotoxic Protofibrils

Jim Marino — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 14:39:55 +0000

Eisai Co., Ltd. announced the start of the first patient enrolled clinical study with BAN2401, a novel monoclonal antibody that is being developed as a potential therapeutic treatment for Alzheimer’s disease. BAN2401 is the first monoclonal antibody to selectively bind and eliminate soluble protofibrils, the toxic amyloid-beta aggregates thought to cause Alzheimer’s disease. With this new treatment approach, it is feasible to expect that BAN2401 may have the potential to halt progression of the disease.

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Alzheimers Drug Discovery Foundation Funds AgeneBio To Advance Pharmacological Neural Stabilizer Technology

Jim Marino — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 08:52:30 +0000

The Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation (ADDF) announced that it has awarded a grant of $240,000 to AgeneBio Inc. to develop a new class of small-molecules that have promise in treating amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI), a neurological condition that often progresses to Alzheimer’s disease and affects more than 3 million aging Americans. Approximately fifteen percent of aMCI patients progress to an Alzheimer’s disease (AD) diagnosis every year.

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BrainScope(TM) Announces Findings Of Traumatic Brain Injury Study In The Emergency Department

Jim Marino — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 08:47:08 +0000

BrainScope Company, Inc. announced the publication of clinical research findings from a study in patients presenting to the Emergency Department (ED) following a closed head injury. The study published in the peer-reviewed journal Brain Injury, the official journal of the International Brain Injury Association, entitled “Use of brain electrical activity to quantify traumatic brain injury in the emergency department”, suggests BrainScope’s technology, compared with Computed Tomography (CT), may provide clinically useful triage for CT in patients presenting to the ED.

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