In this episode of the Neural Implant Podcast, host Ladan Jiracek engages in an insightful dialogue with Andreas Forsland , founder and CEO of Cognixion . The discussion covers Cognixion's pioneering augmented reality headset with EEG sensing, designed to enhance communication for individuals with speech and motor challenges. Andreas describes the journey from creating a speech augmentation device to developing a versatile platform, the Axon-R, which is now being utilized by health systems and r...
Jan 27, 2025•40 min
In this episode of the Neural Implant Podcast, host Ladan speaks with David McMillan , the Director of Education Outreach for the Miami Project and a Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Neurological Surgery at the University of Miami. They discuss the Miami Project's work, particularly in spinal cord injury research and neuroprosthetics. Topics include clinical trials, combining therapies, regulatory challenges, and the importance of rehabilitation in conjunction with therapeutic t...
Oct 14, 2024•29 min
I n this episode of the Neural Implant Podcast, host Ladan welcomes Javier Schandy and Nicolas Barabino from Focus , an engineering services company based in Uruguay. They discuss their work in firmware, hardware, and software development for medical devices, emphasizing their specialization in wireless communications and test automation. They also explain the benefits of contract engineering, the challenges they face, and highlight an exciting project involving an injectable neurostimulator. Th...
Oct 07, 2024•29 min
Today's guest is Stephen Ho from Blackrock Microsystems. While we've featured Blackrock guests before, Stephen's appearance today is driven by his podcast, Neurratives , where neurotech-inspired movies are reviewed and discussed. Top 3 Takeaways: " Our goal for the podcast isn't necessarily to be overly technical, requiring a neuroscience degree to understand. We're often deep in the subject matter and may get a bit jargony, but broadly, we aim to be accessible without pretending to be accomplis...
May 07, 2024•22 min
Eugene Daneshvar is a University of Michigan PhD graduate working on thin film neural implants but has since transitioned into the legal side of things having passed his bar exam and working with Wilson Sonsini as a patent attorney . This interview took almost 2 years to get done but we're glad we were able to do it! Top 3 Takeaways: "I think the main thing I'll say is you don't undermine your valuation by not having an informed and intentional patent strategy, and you don't have to go cheap. Yo...
Apr 29, 2024•35 min
"Welcome to today's episode! Our guest, Paul Le Floch , co-founder and CEO of Axoft , brings innovation to neural implants. With roots in France and a Harvard PhD, he's leading groundbreaking work. Welcome, Paul!" Top 3 Takeaways: "It's a good time to ask the question: What if we could develop solutions tailored for this problem instead of borrowing from the semiconductor industry? That's what Axsoft is about. We emphasize developing soft materials that offer better long-term biocompatibility. A...
Apr 23, 2024•24 min
Today’s guest is Christine Schmidt who is a University of Florida faculty member and former department share who works in regenerative neural tissue engineering. Top 3 Takeaways: "We're trying to create scaffolds that can be templates for the body to repair itself, to grow around, and ultimately become natural tissue, seamlessly integrating with the body's own." "Other faculty were discouraging. This is because academia tends to prioritize scholarly pursuits such as papers and grants, often unde...
Apr 15, 2024•38 min
Welcome to the Neural Implant Podcast! In this episode, the podcast team presents a live panel recording from the Bio L Conference at the International Winter School on Bioelectronics in Austria in March 2024. Hosted by Ladan, the panel discusses various types of neural implants with esteemed guests: Drs . Jonathan Viventi (LCP neural implants), Tracy Cui (PEDOT electrode coatings), Ellis Meng (parylene neural implants), and Ivan Minev (PDMS neural implants). Tune in as they explore the fascinat...
Apr 08, 2024•1 hr 10 min
In today's episode, we're joined by Carles Garcia-Vitoria , a seasoned pain physician with a unique approach to his work. With extensive experience in regional anesthesia and pain management, Carles shares insights gained from his years of practical experience as he pursues his PhD in Spain. Top 3 Takeaways: "We believe we have the opportunity to target the site of action more effectively. That's why we've founded Spinally, the startup we're currently leading. Our goal is to pioneer intrathecal ...
Apr 02, 2024•24 min
Steve Goetz is now the Chief Technology Officer at Motif Neurotech which is developing a minimally invasive neural implant for the treatment of depression and mental health issues. Steve was at Medtronic for 26 years before moving over to the startup landscape. Top 3 Takeaways: "Starting a big program that you don't know how to finish is a very expensive endeavor, and so you want to really shake out all the science risk, all the technology risk, be pretty sure you can execute a thing before you ...
Nov 21, 2023•54 min
Dr Eric Daniel Glowacki is a research group leader at the Central European Institute of Technology ( CEITEC ) located in Brno, Czech Republic. There he studies neural implant fabrication and materials specializing in silicon, parylene, and polyimide devices. He has also started to designs and fabricate devices on a contract basis for other research groups and companies. And, his institute is the one that has been recently sponsoring the podcast! This podcast is sponsored by CEITEC Nano, check ou...
Oct 16, 2023•34 min
Dr. Gene Fridman is an Associate Professor in the Department of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery and also has appointments with the Department of Biomedical Engineering and the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. His research is in the areas of bioinstrumentation and neural engineering. In this episode we talk about his freeform nerual stimulator which allows for DC and any other waveforms without any electrolytic effects on the electrodes. This opens up many possibilities for...
Oct 09, 2023•33 min
Kurt Haggestrom comes on to talk about the latest new from Synchron , which has developed the Stentrode as well as the new Synchron Switch. Kurt talks about his new role as Chief Commercial Officer and where the company is heading. ***This podcast is sponsored by CEITEC Nano, check out their Neurotech Device Manufacturing Capabilities here *** Top three takeaways: 1. "The beauty of this approach is that the blood vessels are an amazing place. To be able to put implants and we've, we're leveragin...
Oct 02, 2023•20 min
Pawel Soluch is a returning guest who goes over his work at Neuro Device , then his consulting at NeurotechX Services , and now finally he talks about the Medtech Coaching program that he is launching with me! This is a sponsorship for Medtech Coach Top 3 Takeaways: Pawel and I (Ladan) are launching the Medtech Coaching program which will be aimed at helping medical device executives gain success in their businesses Coaching is different from consulting in that we do not generate anything for yo...
Jun 13, 2023•26 min
Dr Mounya Elhilali did the keynote talk at the NER Neural Engineering conference in Baltimore in 2023 . 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 be...
May 29, 2023•18 min
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 ...
Mar 27, 2023•29 min
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...
Mar 20, 2023•37 min
Kevin Tracey returns to the podcast to give an update about his work at the Feinstein Institutes and the work at SetPoint Medical . 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...
Mar 13, 2023•28 min
Israel Gasperin is the founder and CEO of Zentrela 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 ...
Mar 06, 2023•37 min
Colin Kealey is the President and CEO of NeuroSigma 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 pop...
Feb 13, 2023•39 min
Craig Mermel is the President and Chief Product Officer at Precision Neuroscience 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 here*** 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...
Dec 19, 2022•30 min
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 here*** 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 ...
Dec 10, 2022•35 min
Damiano Giuseppe Barone 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 here*** Top 3 Takeaways: "My favorite procedure is the procedure that works and you see the patient after that is is a changed patient."...
Nov 28, 2022•31 min
Jon Sakai is the Head of Commercialization at Cionic , a wearable neurostimulator sleeve for those with neuromuscular disease ***This podcast is sponsored by Iris Biomedical, check out their Neurotech Startup Services here*** 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 an...
Nov 08, 2022•24 min
Hannah Claridge is the Head of Neurotechnology at TTP which is a consultancy that helps neurotech companies create the next generation of medical devices. ***This podcast is sponsored by Iris Biomedical, check out their Neurotech Startup Services here*** Top 3 Takeaways: "I think consulting is really fantastic for the variety that it offers you. Not just in terms of seeing problems, but also working with different types of companies, different types of technologies, and having different day-to-d...
Nov 01, 2022•29 min
Lindsey Jardine is a clinical project manager at Boston Scientific which had acquired Farapulse , a cardiac ablation medical device company she was working in. She runs clinical trials for medtech companies and had done so for neurotech companies as well. ***This podcast is sponsored by Iris Biomedical, check out their Neurotech Startup Services here*** Top 3 Takeaways: "One of the most difficult things that I've found while you're actually running the study, is making sure those devices are get...
Oct 24, 2022•33 min
Dan Brounstein is Chief Strategy Officer at Saluda Medical where he is using his 15 years of Spinal Chord Stimulator experience to help deliver closed-loop pain relief directly to the spinal cord. ***This podcast is sponsored by Iris Biomedical, check out their Neurotech Startup Services here*** Top 3 Takeaways: "We're stimulating with milliamps and we're trying to measure in microvolts, and we always use the analogy trying to listen to a pin drop next to a shotgun shot" "There's a lot of litera...
Oct 17, 2022•26 min
Dr Angelique Johnson is the founder and CEO of MEMStim which is a leading global medical device outsource manufacturer (MDO) serving the neurostimulation market, based in Louisville, KY. ***This podcast is sponsored by Iris Biomedical, check out their Neurotech Startup Services here*** Top 3 Takeaways: "Our true competitors are actually not microfab but actually hand assembly, manual assembly" "I'm an accidental entrepreneur- the more I pitched, the more I thought about the business idea, the mo...
Oct 12, 2022•34 min
Dr John Seymour is an Associate Professor at UT Health in Neurosurgery and at Rice University where his lab works on electrophysiology studies, biophysics modeling, and applying machine learning models to decoding of neural activity. A major project in our lab is focused on developing a long-term brain-machine interface for the treatment of aphasia or locked-in syndrome. ***This podcast is sponsored by Ripple Neuro, check out their Neuroscience Research Tools here*** Top 3 Takeaways: "Your job a...
Sep 26, 2022•45 min
Andre Mercanzini is the Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer at Aleva Neurotherapeutics which has worked in directional Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) device leads for Parkinson's and other diseases. ***This podcast is sponsored by Iris Biomedical, check out their Neurotech Startup Services here*** Top 3 Takeaways: "We realized during that time that the intervention that could benefit the most from the miniaturization technologies was by far and away, deep brain stimulation." "MEMS allowed us t...
Sep 19, 2022•36 min
