Coffee Conversation with Steven Plymale and Milos Popovic at Toronto Rehabweek 2019
Neural Implant podcast - the people behind Brain-Machine Interface revolutions
Release Date: 09/05/2023
Mounya Elhilali on her auditory processing selectivity research
Neural Implant podcast - the people behind Brain-Machine Interface revolutions
did the keynote talk at the . I was able to sit down with her and talk to learn more about her auditory processing selectivity research. Top 3 Takeaways: Nurses especially can get used to beeping and alarms which can be dangerous for patients. "Under anesthesia, you see some basic responses, but they are different than when you engage the, let's say, an animal in an awake state, and then when they are awake and actually behaving and engaging with the system" Audio recordings can be tuned to remove ambient noise but they need to be perfectly calibrated to distances between microphones. ...
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Suraj Mudichintala on investing in bioelectronic medicine companies with Action Potential Venture
Neural Implant podcast - the people behind Brain-Machine Interface revolutions
Suraj Mudichintala is a Senior Associate at Action Potential Capital which is GSK's bioelectronic medicine venture fund. Top 3 Takeaways: "Our fund is different in that we invest actually directly off of GSK's balance sheet. So we're what's called an evergreen fund where we don't actually have a fund size" "The way that I think about it is that a VC is really paid to allocate capital but really is really paid to think. You really have to think about what is the next space or the next technology that could disrupt a space? And because of that, it's a much you often have to take a much more...
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Balint Varkuti on turning neuromodulation technologies into Brain-Computer-Interfaces using software by CereGate
Neural Implant podcast - the people behind Brain-Machine Interface revolutions
Balint Varkuti is the CEO of CereGate which unlocks new capabilities for existing neuromodulation technologies using software. Top 3 Takeaways: "the brain is naturally wired for pattern perception for learning, and that's really what we do. We send signals that the brain very quickly can pick up." "You do not need to exclusively be focused mentally, consciously on interpreting these signals. Rather it becomes second nature. Our favourite analogy is saying it is like braille for the brain." "With hardware, you sometimes have simply the disadvantage that you are married to the time point when...
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Kevin Tracey returns to the podcast to give an update about his work at the Feinstein Institutes, the field of bioelectronic medicine and exciting vagus nerve clinical trials underway
Neural Implant podcast - the people behind Brain-Machine Interface revolutions
returns to the podcast to give an update about his work at the and the work at . Top 3 Takeaways: "Two years we discovered that a drug called Famotidine, which is sold as a generic drug Pepcid AC is actually a pharmacological or a drug-based vagus nerve stimulator. And we proved first in mice that famotidine placed directly in very small amounts placed directly in the brains of mice activates the vagus nerve. And this in turn turned off cytokine storm, which of course is a big problem in Covid 19" "A company that I've co-founded, Setpoint Medical, is currently deep into clinical trials in...
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Israel Gasperin on measuring cannabis effects quanitatively with EEG with Zentrela
Neural Implant podcast - the people behind Brain-Machine Interface revolutions
is the founder and CEO of which uses wearable EEG caps to quantitatively measure cannabis experiences. Top 3 Takeaways: "The reason why the government funded us was to use this for safety and law enforcement" "The combination of features that AI is finding is something that we haven't really focused on studying and trying to understand. It's a black box today that, is accurately and objectively characterizing the psychoactive effects, but we don't exactly know what they mean." "Based on this neuroscience-driven research proving the onset time of the beverage, within two weeks [the...
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Colin Kealey on the non-pharmaceutical adolescent ADHD treatment with NeuroSIgma
Neural Implant podcast - the people behind Brain-Machine Interface revolutions
is the President and CEO of which is commercializing the Monarch eTNS System, the first non-drug treatment for pediatric ADHD cleared by the FDA. Top 3 Takeaways: NeuroSigma is commercializing the Monarch eTNS system, a wearable medical device that stimulates the trigeminal nerve on the forehead, as a treatment for neurologic and neuropsychiatric indications. The Monarch eTNS System is FDA cleared as a treatment for pediatric ADHD, ages 7 – 12. Clinical trials in this population show a response rate of 50% with a only mild side effects observed in clinical trials to date. NeuroSigma...
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Craig Mermel on working at Google and Apple and now at Precision Neuroscience
Neural Implant podcast - the people behind Brain-Machine Interface revolutions
is the President and Chief Product Officer at which is a company looking to commercialize Brain-Computer Interfaces using a minimally implantation method and a soft electrode device. ***This podcast is sponsored by Iris Biomedical, check out their Neurotech Startup Services Top 3 Takeaways "The combination of both the nature of our thin film and the surgical innovations that we bring enables us to bring cortical surface neurotechnology to patients in a minimally invasive fashion." "Having 10 times the amount of money at an early stage before you actually solve some of the key problems can...
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Lothar Krinke on adaptive Deep Brain Stimulation at Newronika
Neural Implant podcast - the people behind Brain-Machine Interface revolutions
Lothar Krinke is the CEO and Board Member of Newronika which is an adaptive Deep Brain Stimulator company looking to improve patient outcomes in things like Parkinson's and Essential Tremor. ***This podcast is sponsored by Iris Biomedical, check out their Neurotech Startup Services Top 3 Takeaways: "the one thing we do need to address is really the cost. The cost driver of Deep Brain Stimulation isn't the manufacturing of the system. Now, that's not cheap either it's certainly less than $10,000. How expensive is brain surgery, particularly functional brain surgery? How expensive is it to...
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Damiano G. Barone on being a neurosurgeon and improving patient quality of life through surgery
Neural Implant podcast - the people behind Brain-Machine Interface revolutions
is a neurosurgery clinical lecturer at the University of Cambridge and fellow at The Walton Centre in Liverpool, UK. He is interested in tackling basic and translational challenges for the development of the next generation of neural bioelectronics. ***This podcast is sponsored by Ripple Neuro, check out their Neuroscience Research Tools Top 3 Takeaways: "My favorite procedure is the procedure that works and you see the patient after that is is a changed patient." "You come out from medical school like age 23 or 24. Then you get to a general medical program which in the...
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Jon Sakai on interacting with your target patients and the neural sleeve made by Cionic
Neural Implant podcast - the people behind Brain-Machine Interface revolutions
is the Head of Commercialization at , a wearable neurostimulator sleeve for those with neuromuscular disease ***This podcast is sponsored by Iris Biomedical, check out their Neurotech Startup Services Top 3 Takeaways: "There isn't any individualized training that needs to happen. What needs to happen is the identification of which muscle groups need support and have those turned on and programmed in intensity appropriately." "We were able to improve door sub selection and inversion in more than 90% of our participants." "There's nothing like getting an appreciation for a problem like the...
info_outlineSteven Plymale is the CEO of MyndTec. He joined the firm in late 2017 and has more than 25 years of experience in the medical device industry. Previously, he was CEO of Profound Medical, bringing the company from a small six-person team to going public in 2015 in an IPO that raised $60 million. Plymale was also with Xltek, now a division of Natus Medical, and Claron Technologies.
Milos Popovic is the Director of the Toronto Rehabilitation Institute (KITE) and professor in the Institute of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering at the University of Toronto. He is also the co-founder and director of the MyndTec. Popovic’s decade of research and randomized clinical trials with stroke and spinal cord injury populations led to the development of the MyndMove device.
Takeaways:
Multidisciplinary teams help to build a successful rehabilitation institute.
Translation of rehabilitation technology is not easy but it can be fun.
It is important to harness neuroplasticity in the body and the brain to achieve successful long-lasting outcomes in rehabilitation.
[0:00] Steven Plymale and Milos Popovic introduced themselves to kick off the conversation with Jen French from Neurotech Reports and Ladan.
[0:35] Milos Popovic describes how RehabWeek 2019 ended up being hosted in Toronto, the first time the event was held in North America, and the plan his team put together
[1:32] Popovic describes his career journey from a nuclear engineer to director of an innovative rehabilitation research center and entrepreneur.
[3:33] Discussion of the building of the rehabilitation institute in Toronto Health Network with a team of 90 people and the importance of working directly with patients.
[4:58] Popovic describes the translation of technology from lab to the marketplace particularly in functional electrical stimulation and human clinical trials to a start-up company.
[6:24] Steven Plymale describes how he was introduced to MyndTec and his initiation into a small, struggling start-up company. Hear how he was convinced that electrical stimulation is not voodoo science
[7:50] Plymale and Popovic describe the MyndMove device.. Discussion ensues about the impact on upper extremity rehabilitation and the involvement of the brain, the melody of the neural activity, and how this therapy capitalizes on the neuroplasticity in the brain.
[12:02] Plymale discusses the current stage of MyndMove in the project development spectrum including regulatory approvals, raising capital investment, and pricing model.
[15:26] What is the target market for the MyndTec neural re-education device? Plymale also talks about their pursuit for clinical partners, their strategic focus and the economics of the medical device as an early stage venture.
[18:06] Steven Plymale talks about his career journey in the medical device industry and how he enjoys start-up ventures.
[19:25] Popovic concludes talking about what excites him at RehabWeek and the potential relationships building from this meeting.