Advancing bioelectronics medicine

Micro-Leads Inc. is one of three global recipients awarded $1 million to develop a bioelectronics medicine device for GlaxoSmithKline’s (GSK) Bioelectronics Innovation Challenge.

Micro-Leads recently launched an Acti-Stim wireless pulse generator and will build on this technology to create a Stim-Sense implantable device to fulfill the biological effect component of the Challenge’s guidelines. GSK Innovation Challenge awards recognize scientists who create implantable devices that can readily program the body’s electrical language.

Micro-Leads studies how modulating electrical stimulation patterns to visceral nerves – which serve as communications conduits between the brain and organs – will benefit human therapies. Stim-Sense will aid in understanding how diseases disrupt communication between the brain and organs.

Micro-Leads is collaborating with Professor Stephen J. Lewis, of Case Western Reserve University (CWRU). Lewis’ team, in collaboration with CWRU Professor Yee-Hsee Hsieh, will perform physiology studies in hypertensive rats to understand the patterns of electrical activity within the carotid sinus nerve associated with the development of hypertension. www.case.edu/medicine; www.micro-leads.com

Smart medical devices

Intelligent Product Solutions (IPS) has launched a full-service product design practice focusing on smart medical devices. Software and hardware design services for Internet-connected smart devices and non-connected medical products range from prototype through manufacturing, including design and development of software applications.

Headed by Tim O’Brien, IPS works with companies to accelerate development of medical products and enhance commercialization. The design practice includes expertise in usability design, user experience, and secure data management and communications – assurance that sensitive patient data is secure and compliant with regulatory requirements. www.intelligentproduct.solutions