Tempe, Arizona-based Nocira said it is the first company to announce breakthrough device designation for treating migraine attacks in both chronic and non-chronic migraine patients ages 18 and up.
The device uses “gentle, controlled puffs of air in the ears” to subtly change pressure in the external ear canal, a drug-free technology that Nocira calls Automated Variable Pulse Insufflation (AVPI).
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Nocira’s AVPI migraine treatment device [Photo courtesy of Nocira]
A handheld device that treats migraine attacks with puffs of air in a patient’s ears has been designated a breakthrough device by the FDA.Tempe, Arizona-baed Nocira said it is the first company to announce breakthrough device designation for treating migraine attacks in both chronic and non-chronic migraine patients ages 18 and up.
The device uses “gentle, controlled puffs of air in the ears” to subtly change pressure in the external ear canal, a drug-free technology that Nocira calls Automated Variable Pulse Insufflation (AVPI).
“This therapeutically stimulates a unique combination of pressure-responsive nerve pathways from the ear into areas of the brain associated with headache pain and other migraine symptoms,” the company said yesterday in a news release.
A smartphone app controls th…
(PRNewsfoto/Impel NeuroPharma)
The analgesic dihydroergotamine (DHE) has perhaps the longest track record of any effective migraine medicine.
Seattle-based Impel NeuroPharma (NSDQ:IMPL) aims to reestablish DHE as a cornerstone of acute migraine treatment following the FDA approval of Trudhesa, a DHE nasal spray. Trudhesa uses the company’s Precision Olfactory Delivery (POD) that delivers the drug to the vasculature within the upper nasal cavity.
“I’ve been in this field for 30 years. I still have the privilege of seeing patients, and nothing in the realm of new treatments has quite met that need that DHE fulfills,” said Dr. Sheena K. Aurora, vice president of medical affairs, migraine at Impel NeuroPharma. DHE continues to offer compelling efficacy for, say, patients who wake up in the morning with a migraine and patients with menstrually-associated migraine.
[Photo by Liza Summer from Pexels]
Migraines are an ancient condition. In about 400 B.C., Hippocrates described visual symptoms of migraine aura that precede headache onset.But up until recently, neurologists had relatively few tools at their disposal to help migraine patients. The treatment landscape has evolved considerably in recent years, explains Alexander Feoktistov, a neurologist at the Synergy Integrative Headache Center in Chicago. “I’ve been in this field of headache medicine for probably over 20 years now, and I’ve never been as excited to work in this field as in the past few years,” he said.
The most recent article in a two-part interview with Dr. Feoktistov (the first part is here) discusses both drug and device treatments for migraine headaches, which affect roughly 1 billion people globally.
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Migraine image courtesy of Pixabay
Migraines are a prevalent condition, affecting about one billion people across the world. “In the U.S., about 13% of the population experiences migraine headaches regularly,” said Dr. Alexander Feoktistov, a neurologist at the Synergy Integrative Headache Center in Chicago.
In the following interview, Feoktistov shed light on the prevalence of the condition and shares his thoughts on the overall treatment landscape. A forthcoming article will touch on how migraine treatments have evolved over the past two decades, focusing on the impact of recently introduced therapies.
Could you briefly summarize how you diagnose migraines?
Feoktistov: Migraine headaches typically start in childhood or during adolescence and frequently continue throughout most of the patient’s life. We sometimes see outliers when people start experiencing headaches later …