but again hampered by the quality of technology. a number of physicians who hoped to address hitherto intractable problems sought development of more specialized equipment; for instance, in the 1960s, wall's colleague bill sweet recruited engineer roger avery to make an implantable peripheral nerve stimulator. avery started the avery company, which made a number of implantable stimulators. shortly before his retirement in 1983, he submitted data requested by the fda, which had begun to regulate medical devices following a 1977 meeting on the topic, regarding dbs for chronic pain. medtronic and neuromed also made deep brain stimulators at the time, but reportedly felt a complex safety and efficacy clinical trial in patients who were difficult to evaluate would be too costly for the size of the potential patient base, so did not submit clinical data on dbs for chronic pain to the fda, and that indication was de-approved.: 13–16 however, near this time in france and elsewhere, dbs was investigated as a substitute for lesioning of brain nuclei to control motor symptoms of movement disorders such as parkinson's disease, and by the mid-1990s, this reversible, non-destructive stimulation therapy had become the primary application of dbs in appropriate patients, to slow progression of movement impairment from the disease and reduce side effects from long-term, escalating medication use. in parallel to the development of neuromodulation systems to address motor impairment, cochlear implants were the first neuromodulation system to reach a broad commercial stage to address a functional deficit; they provide sound perception in users who are hearing-impaired due to missing or damaged sensory cells (cilia) in the inner ear. the approach to electrical stimulation used in cochlear implants was soon modified by one manufacturer, boston scientific corporation, for design of electrical leads to be used in spinal cord stimulation treatment of chronic pain conditions.: 13–16 relationship to electroceuticals in 2012, the global pharmaceutical company glaxosmithkline announced an initiative in bioelectric medicine in which the autonomic nervous system's impact on the immune system and inflammatory disease might be treated through electrical stimulation rather than pharmaceutical agents. the company's first investment in 2013 involved a small startup company, setpoint medical, which was developing neurostimulators to address inflammatory autoimmune disorders such as rheumatoid arthritis. ultimately, the electroceuticals quest aims to find the electro-neural signature of disease and at a cellular level, in real time, play back the more normal electro-signature to help maintain the neural signature in the normal state. unlike preceding neuromodulation therapy methods, the approach would not involve electrical leads stimulating large nerves or spinal cords or brain centers. it might involve methods that are emerging within the neuromodulation family of therapies, such as optogenetics or some new nanotechnology. disease states and conditions that have been discussed as targets for future electroceutical therapy include diabetes, infertility, obesity, rheumatoid arthritis, and autoimmune disorders.