technology

TD Bank Group has donated $1 million to the Multiple Sclerosis (MS) Society of Canada to support research projects aiming to use artificial intelligence to create tools enabling better use of disease-modifying therapies (DMTs) in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients. MS Society will channel these funds into its Acts of Greatness campaign,…

It happened on the coldest day of the season. It was 16 degrees F with wind chill. I was outside, using my electric scooter to take Joey, our cocker spaniel, for his early morning walk. Joey had just finished his business. I was tying the poopie bag when I heard…

A large retrospective study suggests that a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) marker — called “brain atrophied T2 lesion volume” — could help predict the timing of multiple sclerosis (MS) progression. According to the study, this marker was the only MRI parameter capable of predicting disease progression, compared with other…

Google has quietly teamed up with Ascension, one of the largest healthcare organizations in the United States, to process the medical records of millions of people. According to The Wall Street Journal, “Project Nightingale” involves all sorts of information about things like lab results,  diagnoses, and hospitalization records, and…

Testing cognitive abilities — like learning and memory, processing speed, and verbal fluency — can give valuable clues as to how well people with multiple sclerosis (MS) are able to go about their daily lives, according to a review study led by Kessler Foundation researchers. Neuropsychological tests are of “significant predictive…

FeetMe, a medical device company dedicated to the development of devices and digital health services to improve patients’ mobility, has raised €9.4 million ($10.25 million) in Series A funding to boost the commercialization of its innovative technology for clinical trials and regular clinical practice in hospitals and…

Mollii, an electrostimulation suit, can help reduce muscle stiffness, or spasticity, and its associated pain, as well as improve muscle activation in people with multiple sclerosis (MS), cerebral palsy, stroke, and other neurological injuries, according to Inerventions, the Swedish company that developed and markets it. With a few hours…

Memorial Healthcare Institute for Neurosciences and Multiple Sclerosis announced it will become the first U.S. hospital to test a nerve cell-derived component known as neurofilament light chain (NfL) in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients. Led by the Owosso, Michigan, hospital’s chief of neurology and MS director, Rany Aburashed, DO,…

A new app might make it easier for healthcare providers to assess cognitive function in people with multiple sclerosis (MS). The app was described in the study, “iCAMS: Assessing the Reliability of a BICAMS Tablet Application,” published in the International Journal of MS…

Sanofi is working with Happify Health to develop an app that addresses the mental health of people with multiple sclerosis (MS) through cognitive behavior therapy. The physical symptoms of MS, such as fatigue and spasticity, are well-documented. But many patients also struggle with bouts of depression,…

Using smartphones and smartwatches to monitor disease course via the FLOODLIGHT app leads to high adherence and satisfaction among patients with multiple sclerosis (MS), results from a pilot study show. The research, “Adherence and Satisfaction of Smartphone- and Smartwatch-Based Remote Active Testing and Passive Monitoring in People With Multiple Sclerosis: Nonrandomized Interventional Feasibility Study,” was published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research. Assessing MS progression commonly requires periodic in-clinic visits, and doctors may miss subtle changes occurring between such visits. Smartphones may be a solution for real-time data collection and better patient monitoring outside the clinic. The Roche-sponsored FLOODLIGHT study assessed the feasibility of using smartphones and smartwatches to assess MS symptoms, including hand function, gait and posture, mood, and cognitive impairment. FLOODLIGHT primarily evaluated adherence and feedback to the smartphone- and smartwatch-based assessments, as well as the participants’ satisfaction, as determined by their impact on daily activities. The study included 76 MS patients (ages 20 to 57; 53 were women) and 25 healthy controls, who were recruited at the Multiple Sclerosis Centre of Catalonia in Barcelona, and the University of California, San Francisco. Most patients (91%) had relapsing-remitting MS. The mean time since symptom onset was 11.3 years, and the mean Expanded Disability Status Scale score was 2.4. The test battery included active tests performed daily, weekly, every two weeks, or on demand for 24 weeks, and passive monitoring, which analyzed sensor-based gait and mobility. Participants were instructed to complete the active tests at roughly the same time every day, and to carry the smartphone and smartwatch with them all the time. Adherence was assessed via the proportion of weeks with at least three days of completed testing, and four daily hours of passive monitoring. Satisfaction was determined through a questionnaire. Clinical evaluations were conducted at the study's start, after 12 weeks, and at the study's end. Brain magnetic resonance imaging scans were taken at the enrollment visit and at week 24 (study's end). Most participants finished the study – 92% of MS patients and 64% of the controls. Reasons for discontinuation included the burden of continuous monitoring and lack of availability for the three required in-clinic visits. Over an 18-month period, from November 2016 to April 2018, most participants performed five to seven active tests per week, including the Two-Minute Walk Test (2MWT). Adherence to both active tests and passive monitoring for the 24 weeks was good, and remained stable over time after week six. In the final week, participants had a minimum of four hours of passive monitoring data over an average of four days. Adherence was higher for passive monitoring than the tests. Data showed that 70% of participants completed all active tests, 75% did all active tests except the 2MWT, and 79% had data collected via smartphone- or smartwatch-based passive monitoring. The longer a person's disease duration, the lower was their adherence. In contrast, disease severity was not seen to impact adherence. Overall scores reflecting satisfaction was 73.7 out of 100 at week 24, having remained stable since week 12. Sixty-one patients reported that the test battery had an at least an acceptable impact on daily activities. Thirty-two had no issue with the active tests, while one-third would rather avoid the 2MWT. A majority, 60%, of the MS patients said they would like to continue using the FLOODLIGHT app to better understand their disease and improve its management. “Persons with multiple sclerosis were engaged and satisfied with the FLOODLIGHT test battery,” the scientists wrote. As such, “FLOODLIGHT sensor-based measures may enable continuous assessment of multiple sclerosis disease in clinical trials and real-world settings.” FLOODLIGHT tests are being assessed in long-term studies with larger patient groups in the CONSONANCE Phase 3b trial of Ocrevus (ocrelizumab, by Roche-owned Genentech) in people with progressive MS still enrolling, contact information is here), and in a global study open to all MS patients with a mobile device, called FLOODLIGHT Open.

Things had been going well with my electric wheelchair, but now I found myself out of control, heading toward the TV. I put my one good foot down in a feeble attempt to delay what seemed inevitable. Somehow, the foot — or perhaps sheer good luck — saved the TV.

The joys of MS are never-ending. One area that gets disrupted by this disease of the central nervous system is our pelvic regions. That affects bladder, bowel, and sexual function. I’ve written about all of this in previous columns. My bladder failed less than two years after I…

Smartphones could be used as an inexpensive and effective way to measure  tremors in mice, which may allow for more research on tremor medications, a new study reports. The study, “Accurate and affordable assessment of physiological and pathological tremor in rodents with the accelerometer of a smartphone,”…

SyntheticMR‘s SyMRI NEURO, a software package that can segment and measure myelin volume in the brain, is now available for use by radiologists in the U.S. through an agreement with Siemens Healthineers and its syngo.via magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) visualization platform, a press release states. SyMRI NEURO’s integrated software package…

July was unusually hot in much of the Northern Hemisphere. So, pull out your electric fan and use it to help your multiple sclerosis (MS) beat that heat and humidity, right? Maybe not. A study recently published in the Annals of Internal Medicine reports that using a fan to…

Valeritas Holdings‘ proprietary h-Patch device can be used to administer cannabidiol by an under-the-skin (subcutaneous) infusion, prolonging the time the medication remains in circulation in the body and maximizing its therapeutic effects, a preclinical study has found. Cannabidiol (CBD) is a cannabis-derived, purified liquid formulation that has…

Over the past several weeks, I’ve been using an app called Floodlight to track my ability to live with my multiple sclerosis (MS). It measures things such as my balance, finger dexterity, walking speed, and cognitive ability. It even knows if I’m keeping myself shuttered in my apartment or…

The Multiple Sclerosis (MS) and Parkinson's Tissue Bank at Imperial College London, the largest brain and tissue bank in Europe, will receive £1.5 million (about $1.82 million) from the U.K. MS Society. This fund will support the development of a digital brain bank powered by a virtual reality platform, which will provide new tools for researchers around the world with the ultimate goal of stopping multiple sclerosis (MS) and other neurological diseases. These new technologies will be used to create high-definition pictures of brain tissue donated by people with MS after their death. “When the tissue bank first opened in 1998 there were practically no treatments for those affected. Things are very different now and it’s a privilege to work with an organization like the MS Society, which does everything it can to ensure the work of the scientific community reflects the needs of people living with MS," Richard Nicholas, PhD, scientific director of the tissue bank, said in a press release. “This investment will ensure all researchers have access to high quality brain and spinal cord tissue from people with MS, and marks an important development in the U.K. research landscape. We’re excited to see where it takes us,” Nicholas added. The new-era tissue bank will grant researchers access to tissue images that can be studied extensively and indefinitely, and also will offer the opportunity to explore the brain’s structures in a 3-D interactive section. Together with Parkinson's UK, these two leading neurological charities will contribute a total of £3 million (about $3.6 million) over a period of five years. "The MS Society Tissue Bank has been vital in improving our understanding of MS and finding treatments for some people with the condition. But our top priority now is finding treatments to slow or stop MS for everyone,” said Sorrel Bickley, PhD, head of biomedical research at MS Society. This new virtual database gives researchers the opportunity to develop innovative projects in which they can combine virtual tissue data with genetic analysis in an easy and more efficient way, and help define how genetic landscape can affect MS and Parkinson’s progression. “We can see a future where nobody needs to worry about MS getting worse, but for that to happen we urgently need to find treatments that repair myelin — the protective layer that surrounds our nerves, which is damaged in MS, and protect the nerves from damage. This funding will allow researchers to operate as effectively as possible, and ultimately help us stop MS faster,” Bickley said.

A new diagnostic method for multiple sclerosis (MS) that uses 3D analysis of a patient’s brain may be able to tell physicians which lesions there are more likely to heal with time and which are not, and as such could be a game-changer in treating the disease, according to the…

The National Stem Cell Foundation announced the start of a pioneering project to investigate the impact of microgravity on the neurodegeneration associated with primary progressive multiple sclerosis and Parkinson's disease. The project, a collaboration between the New York Stem Cell Foundation Research Institute, the Summit for Stem Cell, and investigators with Aspen Neuroscience, will send 3-D brain organoids derived from patients with these disorders, for a first time, to the International Space Station on SpaceX CRS-18. This flight, set to launch on July 21 from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, is a test run for a 30-day study of neurodegeneration in microgravity set to take place on the space station this fall. "The National Stem Cell Foundation is delighted to be funding innovative science at the frontier of new drug and cell therapy discovery. The leading-edge research findings that have developed through this collaboration between important research groups may fundamentally alter our understanding of how and why neurodegeneration occurs," Paula Grisanti, chief executive officer of the NSCF, said in a press release. These organoids, or 3-D cellular brain models, contain microglia — cells that normally support and protect neurons. Microglia are implicated in the brain inflammation and disease progression seen in people with Parkinson's, PPMS, and other neurodegenerative disorders. The project will allow scientists in the near absence of gravity to study how these cells interact with each other, migrate, send and receive chemical signals, change their genetic signature, and promote brain inflammation. As such, investigators may get a glimpse of all the biological mechanisms involved in PPMS and Parkinson's in ways not feasible on Earth. This work might lead to understandings and advancements with a direct impact on the development of medicines and cell therapies for neurodegenerative diseases. Space Tango is leading the transport and maintenance logistics, to ensure the cells arrive at the ISS in the best possible condition and remain viable during the 30 days they will remain in orbit. To that end, the company has developed a series of automated systems intended to surpass conventional lab techniques, and allow space station researchers to work with a higher number of samples than typical, and use high-throughput techniques to easily analyze them. According to the company, these automated systems are not intended exclusively for research on the ISS, but may also be used by research facilities worldwide to support and accelerate scientific innovation. "The vision the National Stem Cell Foundation brings to using new approaches to science and creating collaborations between leading experts in Parkinson’s disease and multiple sclerosis from across the country is truly unique," said Jana Stoudemire, commercial innovation officer at Space Tango. "In addition to supporting the development of tissue chip platforms for microgravity, Space Tango is excited to expand capabilities for human 3-D brain organoid models that will assist in studying some of the most challenging diseases we have yet to truly understand," Stoudemire added. "We are very pleased to support this important research on the ISS."

A new radiotracer called [F-18]PBR06, used in positron emission tomography (PET) imaging, helps detect changes in the brain’s grey matter that are linked to progressive forms of multiple sclerosis (MS), a study shows. The findings support [F-18]PBR06’s potential for detecting signs of disease progression even before patients show…

The developer of an innovative, first-in-class, noninvasive device for the treatment of spasticity in multiple sclerosis (MS) and other conditions has won the 2019 CCI France International Trophy for Innovation. PathMaker Neurosystems was selected from a list of eight finalist companies, which were distinguished among 150 nominees…

Kinza Kasher from LeoPlus USA was selected from a list of 10 finalists to receive the $25,000 grant for “Addressing Unmet Needs in MS: An Innovation Challenge,” Lyfebulb and Celgene announced. This initiative’s goal is to encourage the development of innovative solutions to help those…

By tweaking stem cells in a laboratory, researchers were able to generate a model of the human blood-brain barrier (BBB) in a chip. The BBB is a highly selective barrier that is damaged in multiple sclerosis (MS), allowing immune cells to reach the central nervous system and damage…

A new artificial intelligence (AI)-based model is better than conventional methods for detecting brain changes in response to treatment with Tysabri (natalizumab) in patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS), a study reports. The study, “High-dimensional detection of imaging response to treatment in multiple sclerosis,” was published in…

Editor’s note: “Need to Know” is a series inspired by common forum questions and comments from readers. Have a comment or question about MS? Visit our forum. This week’s question is inspired by the forum topic “Has anyone tried one of these cooling vests?“ from April 18, 2018. What is…

Sutter Health, a California-based healthcare group, has partnered with the biotechnology company Roche to test a new mobile app that aims to improve monitoring of symptoms in people who have multiple sclerosis (MS). The app, called Floodlight, “may give neurologists access to meaningful, actionable patient data to…

AxoSim has acquired exclusive rights to lab-grown brain miniatures, coined “Mini-Brain,” a technology developed at Johns Hopkins University that uses stem cells to create models of the human brain in a dish. This technique may help speed therapy discovery for many neurological diseases, including multiple sclerosis…

MC10 and AbbVie are working together to launch clinical trials exploring the use of BioStamp nPoint, a system of wearable sensors that collects health data from multiple sclerosis (MS) patients, to determine if the information may serve as meaningful measures for clinical studies. MC10’s BioStamp…