Smarter rehab

3D mini-brains made from human cells could help researchers study myelin damage and screen potential treatments for multiple sclerosis (MS). The models are about the size of a grain of rice and allow researchers to observe myelin destruction, known as demyelination, and its repair, or remyelination, in human cells. Myelin is the fatty sheath that [...]

UC San Diego has received US$5m for a new initiative focused on spinal cord recovery and neural restoration. The anonymous donation will fund the newly launched Spinal Therapeutics, Engineering, Limb and Life Advancement (STELLA) Initiative. The programme will bring together scientists, engineers, clinicians and other specialists to accelerate research and clinical translation for spinal cord [...]

Precision Neuroscience has raised $250m to expand its brain-computer interface, taking total funding to $430m since the company was founded in 2021.

US researchers have developed a smart shoe that automatically analyses how a person walks, a technology that someday could help monitor people with Parkinson’s disease, spinal cord injuries, traumatic brain injuries and other movement disorders. The prototype counts steps, estimates calories burned and classifies movement without a rechargeable battery, generating electricity from the pressure and [...]

A wearable-delivered Parkinson’s therapy eased motor symptoms in some patients with advanced disease, preliminary trial observations suggest. An independent safety monitoring committee has recommended that the Phase 1b trial of SER-252 move to a second dosing group. The panel reviewed safety and tolerability data from the first eight patients, who received the lowest dose. This [...]

A woman with progressive motor neurone disease used a brain implant to generate her own words and communicate in real time through text and synthesised voice. The participant, a Michigan, US woman in her 60s, became the first person to receive Paradromics' Connexus brain-computer interface as part of the Connect-One Early Feasibility Study. Unlike earlier [...]

A smartwatch programme may support home stroke rehab by helping survivors take more daily steps and spend less time inactive, a pilot study found. Researchers developed the 12-week BIG STEPS programme to help people stay active after returning home following hospital treatment for stroke. The programme combines behavioural coaching with structured walking goals [...]

A new dataset could help researchers develop AI tools to detect Parkinson's remotely using motor and memory data collected through home computers. Parkinson's can cause motor symptoms including slowness and tremor, as well as non-motor symptoms such as memory problems and digestive complaints. Clinical assessment by an expert is currently the gold standard for diagnosing [...]

CergenX has secured a CE mark for Wave, its AI-supported technology designed to assess newborn brain activity using EEG. The certification under EU MDR 2017/745 allows the Irish medtech company to commercialise the product across the European market. Wave combines electroencephalography, or EEG, with artificial intelligence to give clinicians information about newborn brain activity and [...]

A stroke survivor says an AI receptionist at her GP surgery could not understand her, leading her to register elsewhere. The ASA surgery at Armthorpe, near Doncaster, was one of many facilities using a nationwide AI system called EMMA to prevent long waits on the phone. Judith Butterfield, 71, said she tried five times to [...]