BrainQ Raises $40M for Stroke Rehabilitation Device

The Potential for Brain Repair: BrainQ's Innovative Stroke Rehabilitation Device

Following an injury like an elbow fracture, surgical intervention offers a path to recovery. Similarly, individuals who experience limb loss can benefit from prosthetic solutions. However, addressing complications originating within the brain presents a greater challenge, and stroke victims often rely on the body’s inherent restorative capabilities during rehabilitation.

BrainQ's Approach to Neurological Recovery

BrainQ is pioneering a new approach with a device designed to stimulate damaged brain tissue and encourage self-repair. Initial study results have been promising enough to secure Breakthrough Device certification from the FDA, and the company has recently secured $40 million in funding to facilitate its market launch.

It’s understandable to approach claims regarding brainwave-based therapeutic devices with caution. When speaking with BrainQ’s founder, Yotam Drechsler, he recalled our previous conversation in 2017, acknowledging that I had previously “expressed strong skepticism.”

Drechsler conceded that the technology was largely conceptual at that time. However, the team has since continued development, secured funding, and transformed a promising, yet unsupported, hypothesis into one substantiated by empirical data and clinical results. The resulting system has the potential to represent a significant advancement in stroke therapy.

Understanding the Nature of Stroke-Related Impairments

Strokes frequently manifest in observable impairments, such as diminished grip strength or impaired coordination. However, the underlying injury isn’t to the limbs themselves, but to the brain networks responsible for controlling them.

Currently, medical science lacks a direct method for rebuilding these neural networks; the brain must undertake this process independently and at its own pace.

To support this natural recovery, regular physical therapy and neurological assessments are often employed, sometimes spanning years, to ensure the brain continues to work towards restoration and to prevent secondary deterioration of affected body parts.

Existing Therapies and Their Limitations

Recent advancements in stroke rehabilitation have incorporated technology to provide immediate feedback, such as identifying imbalances. These tools also deliver stimuli intended to correct those imbalances. However, these approaches ultimately remain focused on targeted physical therapy.

BrainQ's Unique Perspective: Restoring Homeostasis

Drechsler and BrainQ propose a different understanding of the problem. They view a stroke not merely as an injury, but as a disruption of the brain’s delicate homeostasis – a state it lacks the inherent capacity to correct. He likened a stroke to a premature infant whose body struggles to maintain its core temperature.

In such a scenario, the solution isn’t to “fix” the body to function at lower temperatures, or to artificially boost heat production. Instead, the infant is placed in an incubator, allowing natural processes to proceed optimally.

BrainQ’s device operates on a similar principle, enhancing brain function by modifying its immediate environment.

How BrainQ's Technology Works

“We map the channels of healthy and non-healthy brains and compare them. Then, we utilize low-intensity magnetic field therapy to resonate within the brain, facilitating its intrinsic recovery mechanisms,” Drechsler explained.

Research in other areas has demonstrated that this type of stimulation can enhance neuroplasticity – the central nervous system’s ability to reorganize itself. By precisely targeting stroke-affected regions, BrainQ’s device promotes neuroplasticity, accelerating recovery.

However, targeting isn’t as simple as pinpointing the affected area of the brain. Strokes impact complex networks, not isolated cubic centimeters. BrainQ leverages machine learning and extensive data to refine its targeting strategies.

Decoding Brainwave Signatures

Different neural networks operate locally at specific spectral signatures, or frequencies, detectable through EEG readings. For example, the brain regions controlling the left hand and left foot may overlap, but the hand might operate at 22 Hz, while the foot operates at 24 Hz.

“The key question is, how do you identify these signatures?” Drechsler posed. He later clarified this concept in his own terms after our discussion.

The Device Design and Functionality

The device itself is somewhat unconventional. It features a cylindrical headpiece, as it’s a whole-brain magnetic field generator. However, the remaining components are integrated into a back brace and hip pack.

This design is necessary because the magnetic fields and currents involved are extremely weak, unlike those used in MRI technology.

“We employ very low intensity, comparable to normal brain activity,” Drechsler stated. “The goal isn’t to trigger an action potential or a surge in activity, but to establish the optimal conditions for recovery mechanisms.”

Promising Study Results

The efficacy of this stimulation was demonstrated in a small (25 patients) but significant study, currently undergoing review for publication (preprint abstract available here). Patients receiving BrainQ treatment alongside conventional therapy exhibited substantial improvements in recovery evaluations, including balance and strength. 92% experienced major improvements, and 80% achieved a level of recovery.

Treatment Protocol and Data Management

A typical therapy session lasts approximately one hour, during which the patient performs physical exercises while wearing the device. These sessions are repeated five days a week for about two months.

The headset transmits the patient’s brainwave patterns to BrainQ’s cloud-based service, which analyzes the data and generates a personalized treatment plan. The entire process is managed through a tablet app, which can be operated by a caregiver or via a built-in telemedicine platform.

Shifting Paradigms in Stroke Rehabilitation

Drechsler noted that this approach initially faced resistance, even from those within the medical community.

“In 2017, we envisioned a cloud-connected therapeutic device capable of treating patients remotely,” he said. “At that time, few were willing to consider treating patients outside the controlled hospital environment. However, the COVID-19 pandemic dramatically altered this perspective in 2020.”

He pointed out that many stroke survivors who would normally receive regular hospital care were unable to do so during the pandemic, and continue to face challenges accessing in-person treatment. A home-based therapy with minimal risk and potentially significant benefits could greatly improve the lives of countless individuals recovering from stroke. Importantly, it complements existing treatment plans rather than replacing them. (“We don’t move anybody’s cheese.”)

Expedited Approval and Future Prospects

Traditionally, FDA approval and insurance coverage can take years. However, BrainQ’s recent Breakthrough Device certification provides an expedited pathway, and also qualifies the device for coverage under Medicare, effective this year.

This means BrainQ could potentially begin shipping devices in the near future, although a timeframe of one to two years remains realistic.

Scaling Up: A Large-Scale Clinical Study

The company’s next step is a larger-scale clinical study, funded by its recent $40 million investment led by Hanaco Ventures, with participation from Dexcel Pharma and Peregrine Ventures.

“We raised this capital to initiate a unique study involving 12 sites,” Drechsler explained. While he couldn’t disclose the specific hospitals or research organizations involved, he assured that they represent the leading institutions in stroke rehabilitation. “We couldn’t have hoped for better partners. There’s a growing sense of excitement that something new may be on the horizon – stroke recovery has seen almost no progress in the last two or three decades, with physical therapy remaining the standard for two centuries.”

The Potential for Reversing Disability

Without making definitive claims, Drechsler suggested that this research could pave the way for therapies that not only mitigate disability but potentially reverse it – a prospect with immeasurable value.

“I was reviewing my pitch decks from 2016,” Drechsler reflected. “As a new CEO, you naturally have ambitious goals. We encountered considerable skepticism early on, but I’m proud to see that many of those aspirations are becoming a reality.”