J Mocco, MD, MS discusses how an evolving pandemic is affecting stroke care in an interview with SmartTRAK

The COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically disrupted health care around the world and is wreaking havoc on medical device markets. In the US, social distancing and other mitigation efforts have helped flatten the curve and many states are now working toward reopening their economies.

The pandemic continues to evolve and its impact on healthcare delivery systems is rapidly changing. Elective surgery has re-started again in many states and hard-hit places like New York City have seen COVID-19 cases peak and start to trend downward. So how are these trends affecting stroke care? Why are strokes up in some regions but down in others? When will neurointerventional procedure volumes return to pre-COVID levels? To find out the answers to these questions and more, SmartTRAK talked with J Mocco, MD, MS, Vice Chair, Department of Neurosurgery and Professor of Neurosurgery at Mount Sinai Health System in New York City.

To listen to the interview recorded via Uberconference on Monday May 11, click on the following video. A transcript of the interview can be downloaded here.

The SCS market saw double-digit declines in Q120 as elective procedures fell off a cliff toward the end of the quarter due to COVID-19

After a disappointing slowdown in 2019, the spinal cord stimulation (SCS) market was positioned for growth in Q120 after a successful North American Neuromodulation Society (NANS) Annual Meeting in January 2020. With new data and products providing an early tailwind for all SCS competitors, companies reported positive momentum until approximately the third week of March when COVID-19 led to shelter-in-place orders and a sharp decline in elective procedures. This effectively put a halt to the vast majority of SCS trials and implants in the US and also impacted companies with SCS sales in China during January and February ...

Among the many topics covered in the comprehensive Q120 Spinal Cord Stimulation (SCS) Market Recap* are:

This week, our expert analysts have sifted through the noise to present some of the latest product developments and clinical trials from the Neuromodulation industry. At SmartTRAK,  our analysts constantly monitor the worldwide MedTech industry to present real-time news, analysis and financial data. All of our analysts are experts in their field, having worked in business development, marketing and competitive intelligence roles at leading medical device companies.

The following is a small sampling of Neuromodulation segment updates from the past week that were compiled, reviewed and posted throughout the day by the industry-experienced analysts at SmartTRAK:

Although the Spinal Cord Stimulation (SCS) Market was down YoY in Q419 and FY19, new data and devices are on deck for 2020

Krishnan Chakravarthy, MD, PhD discusses the state of the pandemic and its impact on pain medicine in an interview with SmartTRAK

Krishnan Chakravarthy, MD, PhD discusses the COVID-19 pandemic, current and evolving methods for containing and treating the virus, how it's changing the practice of pain medicine and its impact on industry in an interview with SmartTRAK. Dr. Chakravarthy is Chairman of the COVID-19 Task Force for the American Society of Pain and Neuroscience (ASPN), a virologist, pain management specialist and assistant professor of anesthesiology at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD). 

To find out more, including lessons learned from the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic, click on the following video to listen to the interview conducted by Anne Staylor, SmartTRAK's Managing Editor and Director of Advanced Technologies, recorded live via Uberconference (47:29 minutes).  Specific interview topics by time code are also outlined below, as is a link to download the transcript.

Mike Daly, VP and GM of Medtronic’s Brain Modulation, discusses the Company’s new Percept DBS System with BrainSense Technology in an interview with SmartTRAK

Although Medtronic has lost share in deep brain stimulation (DBS) over the last several years, the Company upped its game recently with the EU launch of its new Percept PC Neurostimulator with BrainSense technology, which received CE Mark in January 2020. Percept is a primary cell DBS device that can send and record brain signals while delivering therapy to patients for the treatment of symptoms associated with Parkinson’s disease, essential tremor, primary dystonic, epilepsy and obsessive-compulsive disorder.  Although Percept is currently available in the EU for open-loop sensing, the device is closed-loop capable, and Medtronic plans to conduct additional research in closed-loop DBS in hopes of eventually gaining regulatory approval for an Adaptive DBS system. 

To find out more about Percept DBS, BrainSense technology and what’s next for Medtronic’s Brain Modulation Business, click on the following video to listen to SmartTRAK’s interview with Mike Daly, Vice President and General Manager of the Brain Modulation Business within Medtronic. A transcript of the interview is also provided below.

Anne Staylor, SmartTRAK's Managing Editor and Director of Advanced Technologies, will be attending the International Stroke Conference 2020, to be held at the Los Angeles Convention Center, Feb 19-21.

The theme for the conference is A New Era for Stroke Science and Brain Health. According to their website "The International Stroke Conference is the world’s premier meeting dedicated to the science and treatment of cerebrovascular disease. This 2½-day conference features more than 1,700 compelling presentations in 21 categories that emphasize basic, clinical and translational sciences and provides the opportunity to network with thousands of colleagues in the stroke field from around the world with wide-ranging expertise and experience."

Micro-Leads Medical, based in Somerville, MA, showcased HD64, an emerging, high-resolution spinal cord stimulation therapy for treating chronic focal pains of the low-back, trunk, extremities and feet at NANS 2020. Anne Staylor, SmartTRAK's Managing Editor and Sr. Director of Advanced Technologies, attended the NANS 2020 Emerging Technologies Forum and saw this novel technology designed for the spinal cord stimulation market.

Anne Staylor, SmartTRAK's Managing Editor and Director of Advanced Technologies, is in Las Vegas attending NANS 2020, the North American Neurological Society's  23rd annual meeting, and, as you can see from the photo above taken at NANS, she is already thinking about NANS 2021 in Orlando. The theme of the this year's NANS is “Driving Innovation Through Science and Evidence.”  Anne, who covers Neuromodulation for SmartTRAK, will be reporting on the meeting through articles and interviews...