With a focus on epilepsy, California-based NeuroPace launched a new portal, called the nSight Platform. It's able to gather information about a patient's seizures and health progress outside of a hospital. According to the company, the goal is to help provide doctors with new data points to help personalize care.

The new online portal was designed to work in conjunction with the company’s epilepsy device, called the RNS System. This system aims to continuously monitor brain activity and deliver treatment in response to a patient’s seizure activity. The tool is also able to record EEG data. 

The new portal also includes a partnership with the maker of a seizure diary app called Seizure Tracker. Patients are able to send this real-world data to the nSight Platform. 

This new announcement allows doctors to look at data from the RNS System and the Seizure Tracker in one portal. 

WHY IT MATTERS 

Epilepsy impacts a patient's central nervous system. According to the Mayo Clinic, patients with the disorder experience brain activity that “becomes abnormal, causing seizures or periods of unusual behavior, sensations and sometimes loss of awareness.”

As of 2015, 1.2% of the U.S. population had active epilepsy, according to the CDC. This translated to roughly 3.4 million individuals nationwide. The condition is often treated with medication or surgeries. 

Companies like NeuroPace are looking to help treat the condition by gaining additional insights into a patient’s patterns. 

“We believe that the brain data captured by the RNS System is a major technology differentiator. It gives physicians additional information so that they can make more informed treatment decisions for their patients," Mike Favet, CEO of NeuroPace, said in a statement. 

"With the launch of the nSight Platform, the RNS System data is more streamlined, more accessible and more actionable than ever before.” 

THE LARGER TREND 

NeuroPace has quite a bit of funding behind it. In 2020, the company announced a $33 million equity raise led by Accelmed Partners. At the time of the announcement, the company revealed that it also landed $34 million in convertible debt financing from prior investors. 

This isn’t the only digital initiative focused on epilepsy. In 2019, UCB and DEARhealth teamed up on a new initiative aimed at predicting health outcomes for patients with epilepsy. At the time of the announcement, the pair planned to use DEARhealth’s platform, which integrates artificial intelligence with EHRs, in order to gain further insights into the disease. 

We’ve also seen companies use wearables to help manage the condition. For example, the FDA cleared Embrace2, a seizure monitoring wearable for children over the age of six. The wearable is specifically designed to monitor tonic-clonic seizures, which are most frequently associated with SUDEP (Sudden Unexpected Death in Epilepsy).  

ON THE RECORD 

“We are excited about what this partnership brings. When patients track their seizures, it empowers them to take an active role in managing their epilepsy. And when this information is combined with the RNS System data, physicians can discover powerful insights to inform patient care,” Robert Moss, CEO of Seizure Tracker, said in a statement.