Wafaa el Sadr, MD, MPH, global director of ICAP, has been featured in an interesting Nov 30th article by Global News Wire that announced that ICAP had been awarded a six-year contract from the U.S National Institutes of Health (NIH) as part of the next nationwide infrastructure development program (ING). The news release stated that el Sadr is also on the faculty of Harvard Medical School and is a member of itsrigorous neuroscience committee. This man and his company are at the forefront of brain mapping technology and its applications to the health and medical fields. If approved, this technology could revolutionize how we treat brain disorders like autism and Alzheimer’s. According to the article, el Sadr envisions that the clinical applications of brain mapping will be in treating autism, dementia, schizophrenia, depression, Parkinson’s disease, and even pain management.
Wafaa el Sadr co-founded Roca Test, which has recently received funding from the Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity (Iarpa) at the National Science Foundation. Iarpa is a part of a network of research agencies and technology companies led by NASA, the Department of Defense, and the National Institutes of Health. Iarpa is currently working on two projects, one that will develop a real time brain scanning method and another that will examine the effects of traumatic brain injury. Global News Wire reported that in July of last year, Roca Test received funding from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). In a presentation to investors, el Sadr indicated that his company would seek additional funds from outside sources if it did not win its grants from the current agencies. Two of the three main grant programs offered by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Neurotherapy Training Center of Excellence, and the Neurobehavioral Training Institute, are now defunct; the third one closed in February of last year.
As previously mentioned, the Neurotherapy Training Center of Excellence is a non-profit organization. It was founded by a former Alzheimer’s disease patient who received an executive MBA from the University of Michigan’s College of Education. The center’s focus is on developing the next generation of neurosurgeons. Roca is currently processing air implants for the United States Army’s Dental, Military, and Forensic Cyber-Forensics Cyber Crime Solutions. Its prior projects included creating a brain implant prosthetic for amputees, the creation of an airsoft replica of the skull of Osama bin Laden, and the development of a noninvasive optical tracking system that can be used to track people by eye during night time.
Roca says that its technology will be available for pharmaceutical and surgical uses by late summer of this year, which falls in line with the timeframe for the first application of its Symbiomix therapeutics platform. This software will work by sending sound waves through the body which are picked up by computer microchip sensors. The signals are then converted into digital data which can be analyzed by a medical device expert in Roca’s Symbiomix Therapy lab. After analysis, the team at Symbiomix will be able to map the brain’s electrical patterns, which they believe will be useful in investigating the effects of stroke, epilepsy, traumatic brain injury, chronic pain, head injuries, migraines, brain tumors, and many other illnesses.
Global News Wire reported that the company did not comment regarding whether or not the new technology would be available for prescription use in the future. However, it appears that Roca is planning to market an over-the-counter electronic contraceptive patch to combat the problem of over-spending among today’s youth. As previously reported by Global News Wire, Roca intends to launch four different products by mid-2020. The four separate products will include: the Global Travel Saver Travel System, the Global Travel Saver Smartpen, the Global Travel Saver Travel Control Spray, and the Global Travel Saver Medicated Peel and Stick.
The World Health Organization recently announced that the Global Travel Saver Travel System was “being considered as one of the most ground-breaking health devices of the decade”. It is projected that the contraceptive patch will be highly popular because it provides women with a low-cost, reliable way to avoid the cost and inconvenience of purchasing condoms during travel. The company did not immediately respond to a request for information regarding its new product lineup. In June, the company released an over-the-counter electronic contraceptive patch for men, which was developed by Janssen Pharmaceuticals. The Janssen Intender II male enhancement device is already proving successful in reducing erectile dysfunction and improving impotence in men.