A New Paradigm for Treating Chronic Pain, Neurologic Diseases and Mental Health Disorders
Noninvasive system for delivering payloads and stimulation to the brain
Company Mission
Drug/Gene Therapy:
With proprietary precision tomographic delivery, we will deliver payloads to targets anywhere in the head (including brain, inner ear)
Our goal:
Work with partners to deliver drugs/genes to intended targets
TMS Therapy:
Same proprietary precision tomographic system can focally deliver transcranial magnetic stimulation (electric fields) to any region in the brain
Our goal:
Make TMS more effective so it is approved for more indications
The drug delivery problem
Pharmacotherapy is constrained by the Blood Brain Barrier
The BBB severely limits the number and types of drugs that can modulate brain function
- The Blood Brain Barrier prevents entry into the brain of most drugs from the blood
- BBB makes difficult the development of new treatments of brain diseases, and radiopharmaceuticals for neuroimaging
- Drugs reaching unintended parts of the brain and body can cause side effects
Solution: Opening the Blood Brain Barrier (BBB)
Electric field generation to enable precise payload delivery throughout the brain
With precision tomographic delivery, we will deliver drugs and genes across the blood-brain-barrier anywhere in the head (including brain, inner ear). Conventional TMS drug delivery is limited to 3-mm depth.
Problems with Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS)
TMS has the potential to treat many psychiatric and neurological disorders, but…
- TMS has not been FDA cleared as a first-line therapy for any clinical indication
- TMS only reaches superficial parts of the brain. “Deep brain” TMS is only accessed by stimulating the surface. Direct stimulation of the deep brain is especially desirable for treating pain, fear, anxiety
- TMS does not take brain anatomy variations into account
- TMS can only stimulate one region at a time (not entire brain circuits, simultaneously)
Solution: MRI and TMS in a Single Device
Ability to focus electric fields anywhere in the head under real-time imaging guidance
A Revolution in Brain Therapy
- Precision tomographic delivery of focused electric fields to specific targets in brain
- Can modulate single sites or multiple tracts at once, anywhere in the head (including brain, inner ear)
- Interleave integrated functional MRI for treatment planning, and real-time precision monitoring of dose1 and response
- Catch bleeds, tumors, stroke, etc. with MRI
Market Need
Critical need for effective noninvasive precision brain therapy
Chronic and mental health conditions account for 90% of the $3.8 trillion in annual health care expenditures in the USA.
Billions of people suffer from pain, addictions, psychiatric and neurological disorders, globally.
Enabling Technology
Precise, tomographic delivery of electric fields anywhere in the head
Flexible and controllable magnetic field generation with >100 independently controlled actuators.
Ability to steer and sequence modulation to one (or many) locations anywhere in head.
Competitive Landscape
Disruptive and comprehensive solution for brain therapy
Competitive Barriers to Entry
Proprietary enabling technology
- Patent protection: 32 issued patents (US, EU, CN, CA), >100 pending patents
- Proprietary electropermanent magnet technology allows monophasic magnetic pulses (that are more effective at brain stimulation and drug delivery than biphasic pulses) anywhere in the brain
- Compact, no cooling or special power needs, no static magnetic field
- Fast, accurate: Uses IoT technology with 10 nanosecond precision, enabling exquisite control of electric fields
Cross-Disciplinary Expertise
We have helped make medical imaging devices used by millions of people
- Built medical devices used by millions of patients
- FDA-cleared multiple devices for human use
- Licensed numerous patents to companies; sold medical device patent to Philips Medical
- Designed, built and licensed MRI system that has attained FDA clearance for guided therapy applications
- Raised $15M Federal, $20M investor funding
- Prior ventures: +$200M valuations