Neuroelectrics
About Neuroelectrics
Neuroelectrics is a creative, high-tech company offering the best-in-class non-invasive and high-definition electrical brain stimulation technology for personalized neuromodulation. By measuring and modifying brain function, we aim to restore brain health, minimize disabilities and create a better life for patients.
Science & Technology
Neuroelectrics’ products are being used worldwide for basic neuroscience and clinical research in hundreds of universities and academic medical centers. Our vision is to create a powerful neurotechnology platform upon which verticals can be developed to improve the lives of as many people as possible. Clinical applications are already being developed to diagnose and treat brain diseases as well as improve brain health (e.g., in epilepsy, neuropathic pain or mood disorders) and cognitive function (e.g., memory in dementia or executive function in children with ADHD).
EEG
What is EEG?
EEG (electroencephalography) is the measurement of electrical potential differences across points on the scalp. These are the result of electrical activation of diverse brain areas and are associated with brain function. The coherent activity of cortical pyramidal neurons generates ionic currents and these, in turn, give rise to an electric field and scalp electric potential.
Why is it useful?
EEG opens a window into the functioning brain because neural function relies on electrochemical communication. The electric fields generated by the cortex provide a powerful, direct measure of its processes via EEG. Although other important techniques exist to study brain function, such as magnetoencephalography (MEG) or functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), EEG is easy to use and offers excellent temporal resolution (millisecond scale).
EEG can be deployed in ambulatory settings. It is routinely used in clinical settings with epileptic patients and the study of human sleep, and its uses are expanding into other areas, including anesthesiology and the development of brain health biomarkers (e.g., in Parkinson’s or Alzheimer’s disease).
Today’s wearable, wireless EEG enables flexible experimental protocols in natural settings. EEG experiments typically require multiple recording sessions because the measurement of EEG is exposed to various sources of noise, brain function evolves with time, and there exists intra- and inter-personal variability. But now, researchers can perform all of these experiments outside of the lab, such as in the comfort of the subject’s home.
Synergies
The measurement of EEG is improved with concurrent measurements that allow for motion artifact correction. EEG can be conveniently combined with tES or TMS since all these technologies are based on the electrical nature of the human brain. EEG can be used to study changes induced by tES, TMS or peripheral sensory stimulation.
Modern “hybrid” systems include both technologies in the same platform. EEG can also be easily integrated with NIRS, for example, which uses light for the study of brain function through its metabolism.
Research EEG devices allow for precise synchronization across systems, including stimulus generators for Event-Related Potentials (ERPs), evoked potentials, and hyperscanning – the coordinated, concurrent acquisition of EEG in a large group of subjects.
Applications
Basic research with EEG has as a goal of deciphering the way the human brain works. By altering its operating point using brain stimulation in combination with tasks, further information can be gathered on the fundamental mechanisms. Clinical research focuses on the discovery of biomarkers for diagnosis or prognosis and their physiological meaning. Examples of this include Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, ADHD and schizophrenia. Clinical applications of EEG include anesthesia monitoring, epilepsy diagnosis, and sleep studies.
Beyond basic and clinical research, other applications include brain-computer interfaces, neurofeedback, neuromarketing, affective computing (emotion recognition), biometry (EEG-based security) and hyperscanning (the study of brain oscillations in interacting brains), to name a few.
Brain Stimulation (tES)
What is transcranial electrical stimulation?
Transcranial electrical stimulation (tES, also known as transcranial current stimulation, tCS) is a safe, tolerable, and noninvasive brain stimulation technique. By passing weak electrical currents through the brain using two or more electrodes on the scalp, tES can alter brain function. Interest in its use has increased in recent decades, and it is now considered a promising therapeutic tool in conditions ranging from psychiatric diseases to chronic neuropathic pain.
tES is similar to transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) – both operate through the generation of electric fields in the brain. Unlike TMS, which creates quite strong and brief electric field pulses that actually initiate neuron firing (action potentials), tES induces weak electric fields that gently modify neuronal oscillations during relatively long application time periods (20 minutes or more).
tES comprises a number of different techniques: transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), alternating current stimulation (tACS) and random noise stimulation (tRNS). More general forms are possible, but the common elements are weak currents (typically below 2 mA) with power below ~100 Hz (i.e., relatively low frequencies).
Why is it useful?
A weak electric field can shift the neuronal membrane operating point in a way that will make the cell more or less excitable, or, equivalently, more or less likely to fire given some synaptic inputs. This means that an electric field can immediately alter the way that the exposed part of the brain processes information.
Brain circuits have memory: the immediate changes induced by the electric field leave an imprint on the brain’s web, altering the way some neurons wire to each other. This is part of a natural process called plasticity.
Technology
Although originally implemented in bipolar montages with large sponges, systems using multiple small electrodes allow for controlled, focal, or complex stimulation protocols. Wireless, hybrid multichannel solutions enable flexible protocols and the simultaneous recording of EEG signals and stimulation using the same system – even at home.
As neuroscience moves from a correlation-based science to a model-driven one, computational models (physics of electric fields and their interaction with neuronal networks) are poised to play a key role in the development of mechanistic understanding and computational optimization strategies for brain stimulation.
Synergies
tES is naturally combined with the measurement of EEG. EEG can be used to study changes induced by tES, comparing effects across groups or pre- and post-stimulation. tES is also naturally combined with fMRI, ASL, and NIRS, for example, which allows for the study of brain networks pre-, during and post-stimulation.
Applications
Basic research with tES has as a goal of deciphering the way the human brain works. By altering the operating points of neural networks, information on fundamental neural mechanisms can be gleaned. This provides the means for realizing causal studies rather than correlation-based ones.
Clinical applications rely for the most part on the technique’s plastic effects. The most mature applications today include (non-refractive major) depression, fibromyalgia, and neuropathic pain, addictions/cravings and – as our own studies as well as others indicate – focal cortical epilepsy.
Other research areas include cognitive enhancement (e.g. decision making, memory consolidation, and creativity), sleep improvement and lucid dreaming.
Telemedicine
What is it?
Telemedicine solutions enable deployment of monitoring and intervention platforms in the homes of study subjects or patients, and the repeated collection of data or multi-session therapy in a safe, controlled and easy-to-use manner.
Why is it useful?
While laboratory or clinical settings offer great advantages for basic and clinical research as well as clinical practice, they also present logistical challenges, especially if subjects need to visit the study site from distant locations or have difficulties travelling. The prospects for therapeutic solutions that require multiple sessions, such as with tES, require innovative approaches that can reduce the burden on patients, as well as study or treatment costs.
Technology
Telemedicine should be safe, easy to use and robust, and allow for easy communication between the subject and researcher, or patient and physician. The combination of EEG and brain stimulation (tES) in home settings can be used to follow the evolution of treatment, for example, and to adjust dosing. Wireless, easy-to-use solutions are ideal for home-therapy settings.
Synergies
Home solutions can leverage many of the same synergies available in clinical or research settings. For example, the combination of EEG and tES can also be deployed in home settings, as well as with the administration of questionnaires (adverse effect monitoring, sham/placebo questionnaires, etc) or cognitive tests.
Applications
The uses of telemedicine include research with EEG and tES (e.g., when there is a need to carry out long-term intervention studies with tDCS or tACS) as well as clinically oriented monitoring (EEG in epilepsy, for example) and treatment.
Research Fields
Research Program
Although many Neuroelectrics® customers use our devices for either basic neuroscience or clinical research, some are using them as part of clinical studies to bring to market a therapy for patients. This includes several programs sponsored by Neuroelectrics, mostly at Harvard Medical School-affiliated clinical sites, in the areas of epilepsy and dementia. We also supply equipment and expertise to other institutions conducting their own clinical trials in depression, neuropathic pain, and obesity. Neuroelectrics® is widely supportive of these efforts to bring new therapies to patients in need.
Epilepsy
Treatment of Drug-Resistant Epilepsy
One in three patients with epilepsy does not have their seizures controlled by medications, and today, their only treatment options require brain surgery. We have completed a 17-patient study under an open FDA IDE demonstrating a median seizure reduction of 41% in these patients, and expect to start a pivotal study for approval in 2019-Q4.
Elderly Falls
Although many Neuroelectrics® customers use our devices for either basic neuroscience or clinical research, some are using them as part of clinical studies to bring to market a therapy for patients. This includes several programs sponsored by Neuroelectrics, mostly at Harvard Medical School-affiliated clinical sites, in the areas of epilepsy and dementia. We also supply equipment and expertise to other institutions conducting their own clinical trials in depression, neuropathic pain, and obesity. Neuroelectrics® is widely supportive of these efforts to bring new therapies to patients in need.
Treatment of Older Adults at risk of falling:
In older adults, falls are costly and consequential, and commonly occur when walking. Many activities of daily living require us to walk while performing cognitive tasks like talking, reading signs, or remembering a grocery list. Patients diagnosed with dementia are more likely to suffer from a debilitating fall, with direct and downstream medical care costs of $34 billion for the population in the US. A 40-patient pilot study demonstrated we could meaningfully improve gait and balance in healthy elders at risk of falling.
Alzheimer
Treatment of Older Adults with Alzheimer’s Disease:
The last drug for treating the symptoms of Alzheimer’s was approved in the US in 1996. We conducted a 15-patient pilot study with a novel neurostimulation technique that improved patients’ cognitive function. Other studies are planned.
| Disorders | AIM / Metric | Center |
|---|---|---|
| Epilepsy | Reduce Seizure Rate In Cortical Focal Epilepsy | Boston Children’s Hospital, MA, US |
| Alzheimer’s disease | Reduction of plaque and improved cognition in Alzheimer’s patients | BIDMC, Harvard Medical School |
| Pain – Chronic neuropathic pain refractory to medication | Improve pain scores via treatment at home (Telerehabilitation with tDCS at home) | Lyon Neuroscience Research Center, INSERM |
| Depression | Improve Hamilton Rating Scale For Depression | University of East London |
| Cognition And Ageing | Improve Dual Tasking Mobility And Cognition In Older Adults At Risk Of Falling | Institute for Aging Research, Boston |
| Neuropsychiatric Disorders – Obesity | Improve Impulsivity, Reduce Caloric Intake, EEG Changes |