Latest news with #medicaltechnology
Yahoo
11 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Neuralink Sees $1 Billion of Revenue by 2031 in Vast Expansion
(Bloomberg) -- Elon Musk's brain implant company Neuralink Corp. expects to put its chips in 20,000 people a year by 2031, generating at least $1 billion in annual revenue, in a major ramp up of its work to treat disease and gain unprecedented access to the human mind, according to documents reviewed by Bloomberg. Trump Awards $1.26 Billion Contract to Build Biggest Immigrant Detention Center in US Why the Federal Reserve's Building Renovation Costs $2.5 Billion The High Costs of Trump's 'Big Beautiful' New Car Loan Deduction Salt Lake City Turns Winter Olympic Bid Into Statewide Bond Boom Milan Corruption Probe Casts Shadow Over Property Boom Within six years the company also plans to have about five large clinics in operation, with at least three versions of its device available, according to a recent presentation shown to investors. One version, Telepathy, is for enabling communication between the brain and machines; another, Blindsight, is aimed at giving vision to blind people; and a third, Deep, would treat tremors and Parkinson's disease. The financial projections, as well as the company's work in patients with tremors and Parkinson's, haven't been previously publicly reported. Representatives for Musk and Neuralink didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. The company's stated goals show the enormous scale of Musk's vision for Neuralink and the ambitious timeline on which he seeks to operate. Fewer than 10 people are publicly known to have Neuralink brain devices so far as part of clinical trials, and no patients have them to restore vision or treat Parkinson's. By 2029, the company expects to gain regulatory approval in the US for its Telepathy device, and it hopes to perform 2,000 surgeries a year and generate at least $100 million in annual revenue, according to the documents. Then by 2030, Neuralink sees the launch of its sight-restoring chip Blindsight, expanding to 10,000 surgeries a year and bringing in over $500 million. The figures assume 'a conservative reimbursement of $50k per surgery,' the documents show. Neuralink has raised $1.3 billion from investors and is now valued at $9 billion, according to PitchBook. Brain-computer interface companies like Neuralink have attracted significant attention and investment in recent years for potential medical applications. No devices are approved by US regulators for permanent use in humans, as companies are still working on gathering data on safety and effectiveness. Musk has hit a number of milestones with Neuralink, though he is also known for overstating how quickly he'll be able to reach technological achievements. For example, in 2015, Musk said that Tesla Inc. cars would be able to drive themselves within three years. He moved the timeline back several times and finally launched Robotaxis for testing last month. As part of clinical trials, paralyzed patients have used Neuralink devices to control computers, allowing them to browse the internet, play games, and edit videos. The company has also been testing its vision implant in monkeys. Several other brain implant companies are building and testing devices to stimulate or read data from the brain. No brain-computer interfaces are approved commercially for permanent implantation by the US Food and Drug Administration. Elon Musk's Empire Is Creaking Under the Strain of Elon Musk Burning Man Is Burning Through Cash A Rebel Army Is Building a Rare-Earth Empire on China's Border What the Tough Job Market for New College Grads Says About the Economy How Starbucks' CEO Plans to Tame the Rush-Hour Free-for-All ©2025 Bloomberg L.P. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Bloomberg
11 hours ago
- Business
- Bloomberg
Neuralink Sees $1 Billion of Revenue by 2031 in Vast Expansion
Elon Musk's brain implant company Neuralink Corp. expects to put its chips in 20,000 people a year by 2031, generating at least $1 billion in annual revenue, in a major ramp up of its work to treat disease and gain unprecedented access to the human mind, according to documents reviewed by Bloomberg. Within six years the company also plans to have about five large clinics in operation, with at least three versions of its device available, according to a recent presentation shown to investors. One version, Telepathy, is for enabling communication between the brain and machines; another, Blindsight, is aimed at giving vision to blind people; and a third, Deep, would treat tremors and Parkinson's disease.
Bloomberg
16 hours ago
- Business
- Bloomberg
AI Spine Surgery Firm Carlsmed Shares Fall 6.7% After IPO
Carlsmed Inc. shares fell as much as 6.7% after the medical technology company raised $100.5 million in an initial public offering. Shares in the firm traded at $14 each on Wednesday as of 12:04 p.m. in New York, versus the IPO price of $15 apiece. Carlsmed, which uses AI to personalize spine surgery, sold 6.7 million shares after offering them for $14 to $16 each.
Yahoo
17 hours ago
- Health
- Yahoo
Vektor Medical's vMap Surpasses 2,000 Procedures, Driving a New Standard in Arrhythmia Care
Milestone Highlights Rapid Hospital Adoption and Clinical Demand for Arrhythmia Insights that Improve Outcomes and Reduce Procedure Time SAN DIEGO, July 23, 2025--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Vektor Medical today announced its vMap® system has been used in more than 2,000 procedures in the U.S., a milestone that underscores its rapid adoption by electrophysiologists (EPs) and hospitals seeking to improve procedural efficiency, reduce repeat interventions, and deliver better patient outcomes. vMap, developed with AI and designed to localize both focal and fibrillation-type arrhythmias, delivers actionable insights in all four chambers of the heart in less than a minute. Clinical studies have shown that use of vMap is associated with a reduction in procedure time, which may reduce fluoroscopy time and improve safety. vMap integrates seamlessly into existing systems, making it an increasingly valuable solution for electrophysiologists seeking greater efficiency and performance without compromise. vMap is now in use at over 20 hospitals throughout the United States. "vMap has become an integral part of how I care for patients," said Dr. Anish Amin, Section Chief, Electrophysiology, OhioHealth Heart and Vascular. "It's efficient, non-invasive, and delivers insights that enhance every stage of the ablation process from planning through execution. With vMap, I can pinpoint arrhythmia sources faster with greater confidence, treat more accurately, and potentially reduce repeat interventions for patients. I'm looking forward to enrolling patients in the IMPRoVED-AF study, which will further validate the clinical impact of this technology and its potential to transform how we approach AF ablation." As adoption of pulsed field ablation (PFA) accelerates, the need for accurate, accessible data is greater than ever. vMap can enhance the impact of PFA by helping EPs identify optimal ablation targets before entering the lab and reiteratively during the procedure. With vMap's rapid, non-invasive ECG-based driver localization, physicians have more information to better target areas of interest, supporting more efficient procedures and unlocking the full potential of PFA. "This milestone represents meaningful momentum," said Robert Krummen, CEO of Vektor Medical. "With every procedure, physicians are leveraging vMap's rapid, non-invasive insights to make informed decisions and streamline care. We're seeing growing demand quarter over quarter as both physicians and hospitals look for ways to enhance efficiency and elevate patient care." The vMap system is FDA-cleared and commercially available in the United States. As clinical use continues to expand, Vektor Medical remains focused on advancing the future of arrhythmia care through clinical innovation, strategic partnerships, and physician impact. To learn more about Vektor Medical, vMap technology, or to request a clinical or strategic briefing, visit and connect with us on LinkedIn and X. About Vektor Medical Headquartered in San Diego, Vektor Medical is redefining how arrhythmias are understood and treated. The company developed vMap®, the only FDA-cleared, non-invasive technology that uses standard 12-lead ECG data to localize arrhythmia source locations across all four chambers of the heart. By helping physicians identify arrhythmia drivers more quickly and with greater accuracy, Vektor is improving outcomes, enhancing efficiencies, and accelerating access to effective treatment strategies. To learn more, visit View source version on Contacts Media Contact Stacey HolifieldLevitate(617) 233-3873vektor@
Yahoo
a day ago
- Health
- Yahoo
China is catching up to the US in brain tech, rivaling firms like Elon Musk's Neuralink
'I want to eat' popped up in Chinese characters on a computer at a public hospital in central Beijing. The words were formed from the thoughts of a 67-year-old woman with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig's Disease, who is unable to speak. The demonstration, captured on video in March by Beijing Radio and Television Station, was part of a clinical trial involving five patients implanted with a coin-sized chip called Beinao-1, a wireless so-called brain computer interface (BCI) – a technology led by scientists in the US, but in which experts say China is quickly catching up. Luo Minmin, director of the Chinese Institute for Brain Research (CIBR) and the chief scientist behind the trial, said there was a 'very strong' need for BCI technology, saying they had been 'overwhelmed' by requests from potential patients. 'The patients were saying that this feels so great, like they can gain or regain the control of (their) muscles,' he told CNN in May during a rare interview at his lab, located an hour's drive away from Beijing Xuanwu Hospital, where the trial took place. Luo said the technology was showing 'high accuracy' in decoding signals from the brains of patients and translating the signals into text speech or machine movements. His team is planning to speed up human trials by implanting chips into 50 to 100 more patients over the next year. 'We are hoping that we can move this process faster,' he said. 'If it's proven to be safe and effective … it can be used clinically across the world.' As of May, Beinao-1 says a total of five patients, the same number as Elon Musk's Neuralink, has its implants. Another US company Synchron, whose investors include Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates, has undergone trials with 10 patients, six in the United States and four in Australia. Maximilian Riesenhuber, a professor of neuroscience at Georgetown University who was not involved in the Beinao trials, told CNN that despite starting later than the US, China is making advances. 'China has definitely shown the ability to not just catch up, but also then be competitive, and now actually to start, also to drive the field in some areas,' he said. 'Excitingly, there's a lot of research activities in both countries, because they've realized the potential in BCI.' According to Precedence Research, a market research firm, the market for brain technology was worth about $2.6 billion last year and is expected to rise to $12.4 billion by 2034. But for both China and the US, this technology is about much more than cash. Chinese leader Xi Jinping has long aimed to turn his country into a science and economic powerhouse. In March, he wrote in state-owned media that the tech industry had become the 'forefront' and 'main battlefield' of global competition. His ambitions have sparked concern in the US, resulting in an ongoing tech war, particularly in the semiconductor industry. A different approach CIBR was jointly founded by the Beijing municipal government and several local universities in 2018, about two years after Elon Musk founded Neuralink near San Francisco. In 2023, CIBR incubated a private company named NeuCyber NeuroTech to focus on brain tech products such as Beinao-1. Luo, who is also the startup's chief scientist, gave CNN rare access to the institute in May. For years, he said, the ALS patient, who is in her 60s, was unable to express herself. 'She's awake, she knows what she wants but she could not speak out,' said the scientist, who got his PhD in neuroscience from the University of Pennsylvania and spent nearly a decade in the US. 'Following the implantation, she can now speak simple sentences quite accurately via the system.' All BCI researchers must address the balance between risk and effectiveness. Riensenhuber said most American firms use the more invasive method to place chips inside the dura mater, an outer layer of tissue that covers and protects the brain and spinal cord, in order to capture better signal. But these methods require riskier surgeries. 'It is interesting to see that NeuCyber is apparently able to get enough information even through the dura to allow the decoding of specific words,' he said. The test on the ALS patient, which began in March, marked the Beinao-1 chip's third trial in humans. Those trials made up what the developers described in a press release as 'the world's first batch of semi-invasive implantation of wireless BCI in human brains.' As of May, two more trials have been conducted, for a total of five. Clear ambition Amid rising geopolitical tensions, comparisons between US and Chinese tech breakthroughs are common. Brain computer interface technology first started in the 1970s in the US. Decades later, the Obama Administration launched its 'Brain Initiative' in 2013, investing more than $3 billion to fund over a thousand neuroscience technology projects since, according to the National Institute of Health. Synchron, based in New York, was the first firm to start human trials in July 2021. Three years later, a new BCI system developed at UC Davis Health translated the brain signals of an ALS patient into speech, achieving an accuracy of 97% – the most accurate system of its kind, the university said in a statement. The same year, Musk's company completed its first human trial, enabling the participant to control a computer mouse with a brain implant. China got its start in brain tech only in the 1990s, but it's advancing fast. In 2014, Chinese scientists introduced the idea of a national project on brain tech to match similar efforts in the US and Europe, according to the Ministry of Science and Technology. Two years later, brain tech was mentioned in the country's five-year plan, which outlines China's national priorities and goals. 'Brain science is new in China,' said Lily Lin, a former research assistant at one of China's top neuroscience research units from 2021 to 2023. 'So, it started a bit late, but its speed of development has been faster than other countries. And the country has given a lot of funding to many scientific research units, and this funding is increasing every year.' Last year, the government issued its first ethical guidelines for research in this area. At the local level, municipal governments in Beijing, Shanghai and other major cities have also offered support for brain technology companies from research and clinical trials to commercialization. Riesenhuber and other researchers from Georgetown University published research on China's BCI development in 2024, stating that efforts from Chinese researchers were 'comparable in sophistication' to those in the US and the United Kingdom. 'We found China's non-invasive BCI research to be comparable with that of other scientifically advanced nations and to be working to overcome obstacles to greater fidelity, throughput, and wider use,' according to the issue brief. 'China's invasive BCI research, while historically behind its non-invasive efforts, has picked up the pace and is approaching global standards of sophistication.' Luo, who has worked in both countries, says the US is the 'front-runner' in both invasive and non-invasive brain tech. But, comparing Beinao-1 and Neuralink is like looking at 'apples and oranges,' he added. The two systems differ not only in implant location but also in the type of brain signals recorded, as well as the method of data transmission. The Chinese chip records a wider range of brain areas, with lower precision for each neuron. 'All in all, I don't think these two products are in a competitive or exclusive relationship,' Luo added. 'The jury is still out, and we don't know yet which route will ultimately benefit patients better.' CNN's Joyce Jiang contributed to this report.
