Neuros Medical, a Willoughby company formed in late 2008, has made a major step forward in offering their Electrical Nerve Block technology as an answer for patients around the US suffering from amputation pain, residual limb pain, and other types of chronic pain conditions.
After a successful human study in 2011, the FDA has recently approved Neuros for an Investigational Device Exemption allowing them to perform a pilot trial of up to ten patients this year. The study will run throughout 2012, with a goal of moving to pivotal trials in 2013, and submitting for full FDA approval the following year. Once the approval has been received, Neuros will begin marketing the technology to clinicians and patients.
Working in Ohio has been a major advantage for Neuros, not only because Case Western Reserve Univesity is one of the foremost organizations working on neurostimulation technology, but because the company has been able to partner with Battelle Labs in developing and manufacturing their initial generation of devices for the research trials.
“There’s a wealth of talent in Ohio,” said Jon Snyder, the president of Neuros, “I moved back to Ohio from Chicago to put this company together and our Chief Technology Officer (Dr. Zi-Ping Fang, PhD) was trained at Case Western. There are great resources for product development and clinical activity here.”
Based on technology developed at Case Western Reserve University, the ENB system uses implanted electrodes to deliver direct high frequency stimulation to the user’s peripheral nerves, blocking the pain signals sent to the user’s brain.
“We think this may have many applications in other areas treating patients with chronic pain,” said Snyder, “Including post-surgical pain, occipital neuralgia, which is a form of migraine, and a variety of other chronic pain conditions that are peripheral nerve based. A lot of these patients don’t have a real alternative other than strong narcotics, and our hope is that we get to the market and provide a better, safer alternative for those suffering from these conditions. Our goal is to provide a proven therapy for those who are not getting relief from current therapies and treatments without strong side effects.”
Author: Matt Wagner