Intelect Medical, a Cleveland developer of neuromodulation devices for the treatment of brain injury, raised $7 million in a second funding round. The company is currently exploring ways of using deep-brain stimulation, in which implanted electrodes zap particular regions of the brain with calibrated jolts of electricity, in order to rehabilitate brains damaged by injury or stroke. DBS — which is sometimes described as a “pacemaker for the brain” — is currently approved for the treatment of Parkinson’s disease and various forms of tremor.
Medical-device companies Boston Scientific and Greatbatch funded the round. In 2005, Intelect raised $3 million in a first round from Biomec, a device maker that was later acquired by Greatbatch.
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VentureBeat » Life sciences briefing: Thursday, Aug. 16, 2007 said:
[...] I’ve written earlier about EnteroMedics, another company hoping to treat obesity using an implant that interferes with signals transmitted along the vagus nerve — you can read our previous coverage here. In general, the whole field of “neuromodulation” is heating up quite a bit these days, with companies hoping to use timed electrical pulses to the nervous system for treating everything from epilepsy to sleep apnea to hypertension — although it’s worth bearing in mind that almost all of these approaches are so far unproven. See our previous coverage of other companies in this space here, here, here, here, and here. [...]