National ICT Australia (NICTA) startup Saluda Medical has been awarded $5 million by the New South Wales Government for the development of technology which will improve chronic pain management.
According to Saluda researchers, electrical stimulation of the patient’s spinal cord can offer pain relief. However, it can also cause uncomfortable side effects.
The researchers plan to develop technology which will measure nerve responses to electrical stimulation and use this information to automatically adjust the stimulation to a comfortable level. The stimulation is delivered via a spinal implant.
Saluda CEO Doctor John Parker said that the startup’s goal is to bring the research to commercial reality with the technology used in every neuromodulation application.
“This will benefit potentially millions of people suffering chronic pain and other neuropathic diseases,” he said in a statement.
The grant is part of the NSW Government’s Medical Devices Fund (MDF). Other recipients of funds in 2013 include:
- Elastegen: Elastatherapy skin repair
- Endoluminal Sciences: heart value replacement sealing technology
- HEARworks: Development of an automatic cortical audiometer
- MobiLIFE: MobiDRIP
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