Neural Noise

Active implantable medical devices (AIMD) workshop and regulatory context

2 min read

  • The 2025 Active Implantable Medical Devices (AIMD) Workshop was held in Barcelona, bringing together researchers, engineers, clinicians, and entrepreneurs.1
  • The workshop addresses regulatory hurdles, IP strategy, and academic–industry partnerships relevant to neuroprosthetics, DBS, cochlear implants, and related AIMD.1
  • Multidisciplinary collaboration and startup challenges in the implantable devices space were key themes.1 1

Weekly enrichment (2026-07-20)

  • The source is the Neural Implant Podcast episode “Inside AIMD: Building the Future of Implantable Devices,” hosted by Ladan Jiracek and recorded after the workshop with organizers Nicolás Barabino (founder/principal consultant, ADCORPUS) and Antoni Ivorra (Universitat Pompeu Fabra).2
  • The AIMD Workshop 2025 was held over two days at Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF) in Barcelona and drew over 150 participants, co-organized by UPF’s Biomedical Electronics Research Group (BERG) and ADCORPUS, with Ivorra and Barabino as program chairs.3
  • Organizers report the program was deliberately split ~50/50 between clinical research and industry across the two days, a balance attendees highlighted as a strength.2
  • A technology-focused panel moderated by Ivorra (“Designing the Future”) addressed hermetic packaging, miniaturization, materials, wireless power transfer, and cybersecurity for next-generation active implants.3
  • A policy- and market-focused panel moderated by Barabino (“Innovating in Europe”) examined AIMD commercialization under the EU Medical Device Regulation (MDR), First-in-Human study strategy, and securing talent and IP.3
  • Sessions on soft electrodes and other innovative implantable technologies were the most praised technical content, alongside business-oriented talks including a patent lawyer’s view on what investors look for.2
  • Registration (via UPF Eventum) was priced at €250 early-bird / €350 regular for professionals and €10 / €15 for students, closing 23 May 2025, indicating an explicit push to include students in the field.4
  • Barabino’s neurotech-industry background includes prior roles at INBRAIN Neuroelectronics and CorWave, grounding the episode’s startup and regulatory perspective; the episode was sponsored by Black Swan IP.2
  • A concrete networking takeaway for students/early-career attendees was to aim for one meaningful 10–15 minute conversation per day rather than maximizing contacts.2

Footnotes

  1. https://neuralimplantpodcast.com/inside-aimd-building-the-future-of-implantable-devices-with-nicolas-barabino-antoni-ivarra ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  2. https://neuralimplantpodcast.com/inside-aimd-building-the-future-of-implantable-devices-with-nicolas-barabino-antoni-ivarra ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5

  3. https://www.adcorpus.net/general-4 ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  4. https://eventum.upf.edu/127847/detail/active-implantable-medical-devices-workshop-2025.html ↩

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