A blog about what is new (and old) in the world of active implantable medical devices

Category Archives: LivaNova

Livanova and Verily Start Depression Sub-Substudy Using Symmetry VNS IPG and Verily’s Health-Tracking Devices

Posted on by Posted in Depression, LivaNova, Vagus Nerve Stimulation

Image Credit: LivaNova

LivaNova and Verily announced that they have enrolled their first patient in a study to evaluate treatment effectiveness for patients living with depression.  From the press release:

“The first patient has been enrolled in their collaborative UNCOVER study or “The RECOVER Sub-Study, Which Leverages Quantitative and Credible Research Tools from Verily, Will Provide Assessment Measures for Depressive Episodes.”

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The UNCOVER sub-study deploys technology-enabled research tools from Verily to evaluate the real-world effectiveness of VNS Therapy as an adjunctive treatment for difficult-to-treat depression (DTD).

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Participants in the UNCOVER sub-study will use two Verily-developed digital tools – a wearable, multi-sensor device (Verily Study Watch) along with an Android smartphone application (Verily Mood App). The Verily tools measure passive and active data, such as the participant’s pulse rate, activity levels and sleep quality. The Mood App also allows participants to record voice diaries to more accurately assess depressive episodes and their effect on daily living.

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Quantitative data obtained from these Verily tools will supplement the clinical outcomes collected in the RECOVER study, providing clinicians a more comprehensive view of whether each patient’s depression is improving, staying the same, or worsening.”

The Continuing CMS Coverage Saga of Cyberonics/LivaNova’s Vagus Nerve Stimulation for Treatment-Resistant Depression

Posted on by Posted in Cyberonics, Depression, LivaNova, Vagus Nerve Stimulation

LivaNova SenTiva VNS
Image Credit: LivaNova

Back in July, 2005, the FDA approved Cyberonics (now LivaNova) VNS implant for patients with chronic or recurrent depression, either unipolar or bipolar, with a history of failure of the depression to respond to at least four antidepressant interventions.

However, the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) declined covering VNS for serious depression. CMS concluded back in 2007 that VNS’ effectiveness was not compelling enough to expand coverage, leaving drug-resistant epilepsy as its only covered indication.

Ten years later LivaNova presented data from a five-year study of VNS for treating TRD which showed that patients with chronic moderate to severe TRD experienced anti-depressant effects at a significant rate when treated with the therapy.

In response, last month (February 2019) CMS said:

“Based on the evidence, we believe that VNS for TRD seems promising but not convincing.” “To ensure benefits to Medicare beneficiaries we are proposing to cover VNS for the treatment of TRD when offered in double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled studies.”

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