Subsense is developing inhalable plasmonic nanoparticles for brain signal sensing and magnetoelectric nanoparticles for neurostimulation. [Illustration courtesy of Subsense]
It would be a big leap forward for the BCI space, where device developers like Synchron and Neuralink are testing their implants in paralyzed patients. But those systems are implanted on the brain surgically. Neuralink requires a craniotomy, while Synchron takes a minimally-invasive vascular approach.
Subsense CEO Tetiana Aleksandrova co-founded the company with Golden Falcon Capital Founder And General Partner Artem Sokolov, emerging from stealth mode in February and collaborating with researchers at UC Santa Cruz and ETH Zurich.
They hope to one day help patients with Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, epilepsy, depression, strokes, chronic pain and more before expanding the technology to healthy patients who might, for example, want to connect their minds directly to artificial intelligence.
“We see our company as a platform, as a solution that will allow other companies and entrepreneurs — future entrepreneurs — to build their application based on these nanoparticles,” Aleksandrova told DeviceTalks Editorial Director Tom Salemi in a DeviceTalks interview.
DeviceTalks West: Aleksandrova is set to speak on a neurotech panel featuring synchron and Cognito Therapeutics in Santa Clara, California Oct. 15-16. Registration is now open here. Here’s a 25% off discount code: MDO25OFF
Subsense says those applications could include “sensorimotor recovery of vision, hearing and movement; inner speech decoding and thought translation; integration with AI by merging brain and artificial neural networks; external memory as an instant backup and extended capacity; mental health regulation – happiness monitoring and control; [and] appetite control – identification and managing of regulatory mechanisms.”
Related: BCI basics with Synchron co-founder and CEO Dr. Tom Oxley
How Subsense’s technology is designed to work
Subsense is developing nanoparticles that would be inhaled via the nasal cavity and delivered to the brain’s olfactory bulb, then steered magnetically to their specific targets within the brain, depending on the application.
“It’s important to understand that it’s two types of nanoparticles — completely different — and they’re not interfering with each other at all,” Aleksandrova said. “The first type of nanoparticles is plasmonic nanoparticles. We use these nanoparticles for neural reading. … It’s gold nanoparticles covered with electrochromic polymer.”
Subsense patients would wear a headset that emits near-infrared light to sense brain signals and magnetic fields to deliver neurostimulation. [Illustration courtesy of Subsense]
“The frequency is changing on this nanoparticle, so that’s how we know in a certain area there is the activation in the brain,” she said.
The second type of nanoparticles are magnetoelectric for neurostimulation. The wearable headset would also generate magnetic fields to generate piezoelectricity in those nanoparticles.
“When we affect nanoparticles with magnetic fields, the nanoparticles are deforming,” she said. “And when they are deforming, they produce electricity and affect the neurons around them. … That’s how we can both read and stimulate the neurons in the brain.”
These nanoparticles are temporary and can be tuned to last for days or weeks, with Subsense focusing on a range of 20 to 60 days. The company’s biocompatibility studies are “all good” so far, Aleksandrova said.
But there are limitations that mean this technology will likely complement other BCIs rather than compete against them. One example is Subsense’s neuro reading depth, she said, which so far can’t go deeper than 4 cm.
“Some medical applications will be executed much better with the traditional approach than with ours,” she said. “… Maybe it’s bold to say, but 80%, maybe 70% of something that already is executing, we can cover it better … because of the nonsurgical approach.”
What’s next for Subsense
Subsense co-founder and CEO Tetiana Aleksandrova [Photo courtesy of Subsense]
Within 18 months, Aleksandrova hopes her team can demonstrate the technology can be used to read brain signals in mice, stimulate their brains and treat a symptom of either Parkinson’s or epilepsy before moving on to other neurodegenerative diseases.
“It’s a moonshot,” Aleksandrova said. “That word, moonshot, you can hear it in our company almost every day. … Our North Star is to create a safe, efficient brain computer interface for healthy individuals to merge technology and the brain.”
