Hi Readers: T.G.I.F. and pardon the late delivery.
After August’s first half of Big News, the back half has been relatively quiet across neurotech land.
…except in TMS, where new dosing continues driving new deals. Get excited, but know this clinical market will still take year or two to transform depending on channel development, payer hijinks, and D2C.
D2C? Maybe. The lid’s off the snakeoil, with healing journey claims oozing into my feed for D2C “wellness visits” at $2500 a pop, to massage layers of stress and burnout away. I’m not against psychonaut vibecoding your own brain, but I am against unevidenced social media manipulation of vulnerable people into expensive unevidenced “TMS.”
TMS execs, don’t ignore this: it’s mostly your problem. Such homegrown treatments leverage your earned clinical rigor against you. If they don’t work, and also if they do work, they devalue the perception of said hard earned clinical rigor. Turns out noninvasive neuromod is not without its headaches (see what I did there)
Besides that, the usual march of commercial progress continues with new executive appointments, FDA greenlights, some funding news, and several strategic partnerships. Outside of market activity, interesting reports, nerdy papers galore, and some excellent vids for the long weekend.
Outside this newsletter: I’m decelerating from a month of extremes to a month of moderation, in life and in work.
Extremes. I’m back to California living now, following an exhilarating and exhausting month in DC. This trip included driving past tanks while worrying that I didn’t have my 3 year old’s birth certificate or passport in the car. Also:
The Gauntlet Slappeth: In a three-day stretch, I gutted out a half marathon in 90 degree humidity, took a train to/from NYC for a last-minute secret 3 hour meeting the next morning, maybe got offered a dream job by one of my idols, burned a few bridges I didn’t mean to… Brb, lemme get my bootleg TMS helmet.
“In a word, WISeR is Extreme” - Amidst the fun I wrote a thing about Medicare’s new auto (AI) denial pilot. tldr bad news for implanted neurotech. If the ads are too much, check your inbox Monday. DMs open.
Moderation: Home. Daycare. Ocean. Pooltime. And a boatload of overdue work. But I’ll also be taking the stage for a pair of exciting BCI events:
September 16 - Shaping the Future of BCI: The Opening of Subsense's Palo Alto Lab (Private Event)
Nanoparticle BCI pioneer Subsense has arrived in the Bay. I’ll be moderating a panel discussion on BCI innovation with world-class neurotech legends, before we mingle and tour their new digs.
Limited space available for this private event. All requests will be reviewed before approval. Reply with a brief intro, your primary interests in the event, Linkedin profile and company website.
October 3-4: 2025 New York BCI Symposium, by Mount Sinai BioDesign (Registration Required - Discount Available!)
Last year’s inaugural event blew my mind open. So, I’m running it back. This year I’ll be leading a chat on stage with investors behind some of the world’s top BCI and neurotech startups. What should I ask them?
Mount Sinai Biodesign has generously agreed to offer a discount for Neurotech Futures readers! Register with code: NTFuturesNYBCI25
Pssst - a pre-event mixer is in the works with my wonderful friends at NeuroNYC for Thursday evening. Hold that date fam.
Lastly, approximately ten million brilliant and talented young people have reached out to me in the last five minutes to help find a job in neurotech. That’s not how it works. To learn how it works, register for Dana Foundation’s 3rd Annual Virtual Career Fair in Neuroscience & Society on Sept 8th. I’ll be sharing career advice, including how to ask me for help.
Super last thing: The Job Board so many of you have asked me about is coming very soon! Thanks for your patience. I know how hard it is. Trust me.
Now. How about that long weekend? Happy Labor Day y’all.
👋🏽 Hi, I’m Naveen. I believe brain health is human health. You are one of the 2,825 readers of my biweekly reports on emerging neurotech markets.
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NANS
Registration opens September 9 for NANS 2026, Jan. 22-25 in Las Vegas! Learn more about awards/grants available, early bird discounts, and more.
Applications for the NANS RFS Mentorship Program are now open—Yearlong program seeks mentors & mentees - Apply by September 26!
TTP
Medical device software - how can implantable medical devices meet rising demands for compliance, security, and connectivity? - Watch now
Datwyler
How Users Rule The Market—And Wearables Are No Exception
Towards highly successful wearable devices - Read in Forbes
Card79
How do you humanize deep tech? Afshin Mehin shares his approach in Infinite Frontiers. - Read More
Funding
Noctrix Health Raises $33.5M and Expands Leadership Team to Accelerate U.S. Commercialization of Nidra(R) Therapy for Restless Legs Syndrome (Access Newswire)
Belfast-based Neurovalens closes £6m funding round (Irish Times)
Bill Gates-backed AI competition offers $1M to accelerate Alzheimer’s research (Geekwire)
Convergence Partners announces new investment in Aurimod GmbH (LinkedIn)
Eight Sleep Raises $100 Million to Turn Smart Mattresses Into Medical Devices (CTOL)
Is a Mattress Neurotech? Let me sleep on it.
Spark Biomedical Awarded Funding from Wellcome Leap for Women’s Health Innovation (Globe Newswire)
Multidisciplinary collaboration receives US$144,500 grant to develop tool for predicting brain aneurysm rupture risk (NeuroNews International)
Commercial
Synchron Expands Executive Team with Appointment of Andy Rasdal as Chief of Staff and Mark Brister as VP R&D (Business Wire)
Altheda Medical Center announces partnership with Kernel (LinkedIn)
Axoft announces strategic partnership with Kayaku Advanced Materials (KAM), a global leader in high-performance materials (LinkedIn)
Cirtec Medical Announces Appointment of New Chief Executive Officer (Cirtec)
NeuroLight Appoints Geoffrey Lawrence as Chief Financial Officer (NeuroLight)
Partnership Announcement: DeepPsy & VieClinic (LinkedIn)
Verily discontinuing devices portfolio (LinkedIn)
Google just hates health innovation, huh. Serious losers over there in Scrooge McDuck’s coin vault. Anyway, more talent & IP up for grabs…
BrainsWay Targets Expansion of its Total Addressable Market through a Strategic Investment in Neuromodulation Systems Developer, Neurolief Ltd. (StockTitan | PR Newswire)
“...$5 million convertible loan with an option to acquire the company. The agreement includes potential additional milestone-based funding: a $6 million convertible loan upon FDA approval of Neurolief's Proliv Rx system for Major Depressive Disorder (MDD), and a $5 million equity investment upon reaching specific revenue targets.”
Also: Neurolief Presents Groundbreaking Study Results of its Proliv™Rx Brain Neuromodulation for MDD (PR Newswire)
BrainsWay Acquires Minority-Stake in Axis Integrated Mental Health (BrainSway)
“BrainsWay will invest $2.3 million initially, and an additional potential $1 million milestone-based investment, for a minority position in Axis”
Family Care Center Opens National TMS Center of Excellence (PR Newswire)
Regulatory
MagVenture Receives FDA Clearance to Expand TMS Therapy Indication for Adolescents Aged 15–21(EIN Presswire)
ONWARD Medical Receives FDA IDE Approval to Initiate the Empower BP Pivotal Study with the ARC-IM System (Globe Newswire)
Scoop: Lumos Labs has FDA nod for ADHD DTx Prismira (PharmaPhorum)
AdvaMed urges Dr. Oz to speed Medicare coverage of breakthrough devices (MedTechDive)
More than 1,100 devices have received the FDA’s breakthrough designation (MedTechDive)
Add to the Repository: Aggregated funding opportunities for research that bridges the body and the brain (LinkedIn)
Industry
Massively scalable neurotech, bespoke engineering solutions, and new material systems (ARIA)
Curious for all feedback: What are your thoughts about ARIA’s work to date? What you want to see more of from them?
Action Potentials: Neurotechnology, Brain-Computer Interfaces, and Implications for Germany’s and Europe’s Foreign & Security Policy (GPPI)
Discussion: The $2.25B Acquisition of Focused Ultrasound Manufacturer HistoSonics Validates and Advances Field (FUS Foundation)
Sam Altman’s Brain Chip Venture Is Mulling Gene Therapy Approach (Bloomberg)
SpineX: New study explores noninvasive spinal cord neuromodulation (SCONE™ therapy) as a potential new approach to managing Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM) (SpineX)
Nalu Advances Wearable Neurostimulation with New, 39% Smaller Therapy Disc (BusinessWire)
Team Gleason & Synchron Renew Partnership to Expand BCI Access to the ALS Community (Team Gleason)
Northwell Health Implants Nation’s First Patient with SetPoint System for Treatment of Rheumatoid Arthritis (Setpoint)
NeuroStim TMS Pioneers Accelerated One-Day TMS™ for Depression (PR Newswire)
Highland Instruments Publishes Study on Predicting Stroke Recovery with AI-Powered Suite (LinkedIn)
Fine-Tuning Neurostimulation With Fasikl (Medtech Strategist)
How iPhone and StrivePD Empower Patients to Live Fully with Parkinson’s (Rune Labs)
Also from Rune: How This Data-Thirsty Startup Is Taking on Parkinson’s Disease With an App (Inc)
age1’s 2025 1st Annual Pharma Aging Report Card (Libraries for the Future)
Sharing because a) what a report! And b) who knows about this? “FUSE (Phase II), a once-monthly peripheral-focused high-frequency ultrasound (PFUS) treatment for diabetes and obesity meant to regulate glucose metabolism via CNS stimulation (the result of a collaboration with Chicago-based GE Healthcare).”
Scaling with Purpose: LIFE Neurotech's Journey (LinkedIn)
Neurotech.TV
Incorporating Lived Experience Across the Total Product Life Cycle (iBCI-CC)
Tech Support: Precision CEO Michael Mager Answers Startup Questions (WIRED)
This should be a rite of passage for every neurotech company.
The History And Future Of Brain Implants (Core Memory)
Ep35: Advancing ALS Treatment with Focused Ultrasound: Bill’s Story (Curing with Sound)
Monitoring Long-Term Efficacy of Migraine Wearable Device Over 3 Years: Alit Stark-Inbar, PhD (NeurologyLive)
Neil deGrasse Tyson: Mindreading with Jean Rémi-King (Startalk)
Making Neuroscience Education Fun for the Next Generation: An Insightful Conversation with Dr. Eric Chudler at UW (Science for Humanity)
Society
Praxis Spinal Cord Institute, Technology for Living and MIMIC Systems Vancouver pilot Novel Solid-State Cooling and Heating System Advancing Climate Resiliency for People with Disabilities (CisionPR)
A MoFo Privacy Minute: Neural Data Added to Montana’s Genetic Information Privacy Act (Morrison Forrester)
Neurofeedback and Brain–Machine Interfaces: Where are We Now? (Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback)
One neurosurgeon, 8 million patients (NPR)
Research
Personalized, closed-loop deep brain stimulation for chronic pain (medRxiv | NYTimes)
Wireless implant network could transform cardiac, neurological care (Rice)
Acoustic emissions dose and spatial control of blood-brain barrier opening with focused ultrasound (Device)
Real-World Effectiveness of a Novel AI-Software Dependent Neuromodulation (ASDN) with Remote Monitoring Capability Field Stimulation Device for Chronic Pain: A 24-Month Analysis of Over 2000 Patients (JPR)
Scientists Shine a Laser Through a Human Head It’s the first step toward an inexpensive new medical imager (IEEE)
Transcranial direct current stimulation plus cognitive training for cognitive symptoms in patients with post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection: a randomized, double-blind, sham-controlled trial (Brain Stimulation)
5-year longitudinal follow-up of patients treated for chronic mechanical low back pain using restorative neurostimulation (BMJ)
Restoring Cortically Mediated Movement and Sensation in Complete Tetraplegia (MedRxiv)
Revisiting subcallosal cingulate deep brain stimulation for depression: Long-term safety and effectiveness outcomes from a pooled analysis of 172 implanted patients (BrainStimulation)
Secure wireless communication of brain–computer interface and mind control of smart devices enabled by space-time-coding metasurface (Nature Communications)
Focused Ultrasound Neuromodulation for Addiction and Pain: Three Clinical Trials Offered for Veterans (FUSFoundation)
Meet the 2025 AI Brains Fellows (SpecTech)
That’s a Wrap! Click “❤️” to amplify brain health innovation across the web.
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