Neural Prosthesis
Recipient to Keynote 2003 Neurotech Leaders Forum
Jennifer French, one of the first recipients of an experimental
standing/transfer prosthesis that allows paraplegics to stand up
using their own paralyzed leg muscles, will deliver the keynote
talk at the 2003 Neurotech Leaders
Forum in San Francisco. The event, a full-day management and
investment conference directed at neurotechnology executives, entrepreneurs,
and investors, will be held at the Hyatt Regency San Francisco Airport
on September 9, 2003.
French sustained an incomplete spinal cord injury in 1998 and subsequently
received a surgically implanted stimulation system, which was developed
at the Cleveland FES Center. The device uses electrical stimulation
to activate the leg, trunk, and back muscles, allowing her to stand
out of the wheelchair and move around using a walker. French now
serves as executive director of a new nonprofit organization called
Society To Increase Mobility
(STIM). STIM's goal is to educate the public and increase media
awareness of neural prostheses, functional electrical stimulation,
and related technologies that stand to benefit individuals with
neurological disorders. The title of her talk is "Neurotechnology:
The User's Perspective."
Other sessions at the 2003 Neurotech Leaders Forum will be devoted
to market opportunities for neurostimulation and neurodiagnostic
devices. A special entrepreneur's panel will feature presentations
from CEOs of six start-up and early-stage neurotechnology firms.
Presenting companies include Afferent
Corp., a Providence, RI manufacturer of sensory stimulation
devices for treatment of stroke; Cyberkinetics
Inc., a Foxborough, MA manufacturer of brain-computer interfaces
and electrode arrays; Robomedica
Inc., a Culver City, CA manufacturer of robotic walking systems
and training technologies; Cyclotec
AMT, a Lauderhill, FL manufacturer of wireless stimulation devices
for pain treatment; and Epic
Biosonics, a Victoria, British Columbia manufacturer of a totally
implantable cochlear prosthesis. A morning session on neurotechnology
capital markets will feature a panel discussion include venture
capitalists from several leading VC firms in the field.
The 2003 Neurotech Leaders Forum is produced by Neurotech Reports,
the San Francisco, CA publisher of the Neurotech Business Report
and several market research reports in the industry. Quallion
LLC, a Sylmar, CA manufacturer of batteries for implanted stimulators,
is the Platinum Sponsor of the event. Neurotech Reports editor and
publisher James Cavuoto will serve as moderator for several sessions.
Warren Grill, Ph.D., associate professor of biomedical engineering
at Case Western Reserve University,
will also serve as a moderator. Grill, who is also a senior technical
editor of Neurotech Business Report, is one of the nation's leading
experts in neural stimulation and a principal investigator at the
Cleveland FES Center.
More information on the event and the market for neurotechnology
can be found at www.neurotechreports.com.
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