Medical device maker Innovative Neurological Devices won the Innovation of the Year award during TechPoint’s 20th annual Mira Awards honoring the best of tech in Indiana.

If the first treatment that comes to mind for conditions like anxiety, insomnia, and depression is medication, it wouldn’t surprise your doctor. According to Kantar Media, a firm that tracks multimedia advertising, 771,368 pharmaceuticals ads were shown online in 2016, the last full year for which data is available, an increase of almost 65 percent over 2012. And spending on medical marketing significantly increased over the past two decades, going from $17.7 billion in 1997 to $29.9 billion in 2016.

But what if you couldn’t, or didn’t want to take a pill to treat a debilitating condition? Innovative Neurological Devices (IND), which specializes in design, development, and manufacturing of affordable medical devices has created Cervella, an FDA-cleared medical device for non-drug treatment of anxiety, insomnia, and depression. Cervella works by sending micro pulses of electric current through the brain via conductive electrodes that are seamlessly incorporated into the ear cushions of noise-cancelling stereo headphones. Cervella is controlled via a smartphone app that allows patients to receive treatment while working, studying or playing.

The Mira Awards judges think IND’s innovative and thoughtful solution elegantly balances the patient’s desire for a non-drug treatment with comfort and confidence. By allowing users to wear the electrodes in a fashionable manner, Cervella dramatically increases patient compliance during treatment, which results in significantly improved outcomes. Most importantly, the app also allows the patient to automatically store the treatment history for review by the patient’s healthcare provider, a feature lacking in other products in the market. IND has delivered a brand new way of making a high-end medical device accessible and usable for a significant number of people suffering from disorders, and will positively impact the lives of many.

President and CEO Bart Waclawik of Innovative Neurological Devices portrait by Polina Osherov.

TechPoint, the nonprofit, industry-led growth accelerator for Indiana’s tech ecosystem, honored the successes and innovation of Indiana people, places, companies and products at the JW Marriott Indianapolis during the 20th annual Mira Awards gala presented by Angie’s List, Infosys, and Salesforce. With a sold-out crowd of 1,400 attendees—up another 100 from last year— this was the largest Mira Awards in the program’s 20-year history.

Only a handful of the 2019 nominees existed as companies 20 years ago, and 82 percent were founded in just the past 10 years. Similar to the rapid adoption of the iPhone starting a decade ago and streaming services today, tech businesses in Indiana have grown from a few pioneers to a fast growing, vibrant industry that is a key driver of job growth and a critical part of the state’s economic success story.

SEE ALL WINNERS

A total of 14 award winners and honorees were chosen from the 109 outstanding people, places companies and products that were selected as nominees for their achievements during the 2018 calendar year. Fifty-two independent, volunteer judges spent more than 850 total hours evaluating applications, interviewing nominees, and selecting this year’s winners. Judges included company founders, CEOs and presidents, CTOs, CIOs, and other subject matter experts.

The Mira Awards are named after the first of the brilliant variable stars to be discovered – the Mira Star. It is also the Latin root meaning “worthy of admiration, wonderful, marvelous.” The awards represent the best of tech in Indiana each year.