Time Elon Musk‘s Neuralink expects to begin human testing in six months, a neurotechnology company has introduced a device that treats depression and now it’s in the skull of the first patient.
The Inner Cosmos ‘digital pill’ includes two parts: an electrode that is placed under the skin of the scalp, and the ‘prescription capsule’ that is attached to the users hair to power the device.
The implant sends small electrical pulses to the region of the brain affected by depression, the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, once a day for 15 minutes.
And the external device does not need to be on the head when the treatment is not being delivered.
The St Louise, Missouri test patient is scheduled to test the Inner Cosmos innovation for a year, and the company has another human trial scheduled to begin next month.
Inner Cosmos has presented the first brain implant to treat depression. The digital pill is the smallest and least invasive technology to date: the implant is the size of a penny.
Implants to treat all brain alignments are making waves in the industry, as several companies are racing to bring theirs to market first.
Musk’s Neuralink recently held a product demo that showed its chip in a monkey’s brain, allowing it to control a keyboard on a screen to type complete sentences.
Synchron began human testing of its brain implant in July, which allows a user to control a computer using just thought.
The company’s paperclip-sized Stentrode brain implant will be implanted in six patients in New York and Pittsburgh with severe paralysis.
Stentrode will allow patients to control digital devices just by thinking and give them the ability to perform daily tasks such as texting, emailing and shopping online.
Research facilities are also developing brain chips.
Southmead Hospital in Bristol is believed to be the first in the world to implant a device to reverse Parkinson’s symptoms.
However, the Inner Cosmos digital pill is the smallest and least invasive technology to date: the implant is the size of a penny.
And the company likens the external capsule to charging an Apple Watch.
Surgery for the implant takes 30 minutes in an outpatient center.
Inner Cosmos was founded by entrepreneur Meron Gribetz, who was diagnosed with attention deficit disorder as a child.
“Our mission is to create a world that restores the cognitive power of humanity by rebalancing the human mind,” Gribetz said.
‘The world is in a state of severe disorder, leading to disordered cognition
Millions of people are feeling the effects, leading to rising levels of depression.
“We believe our approach can ease the lives of people suffering from depression and eventually escalate to other cognitive disorders.”
The aim of Inner Cosmos is to move away from prescription drugs and towards ‘more effective treatment’.
‘Depression, attention and anxiety, that we treat. Just to underscore this point, there are 140 million Americans each year who use drugs for attention or depression, that’s more users than have iPhones,” Gribetz said in a 2022 presentation.
The Inner Cosmos ‘digital pill’ includes two parts: an electrode that is placed under the skin of the scalp, and the ‘prescription capsule’ that is attached to the users hair to power the device.
The implant sends pulses to the region of the brain affected by depression, the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, once a day for 15 minutes. And the external device does not need to be on the head when the treatment is not being delivered.
The Inner Cosmos digital pill works with a smartphone app, which also displays mood and depression charts that can be shared with a doctor.
Gribetz said this is the first time doctors will have access to this kind of data, “saving the healthcare industry billions from misdiagnoses of severe suicidal depression,” he said.
‘[The implant] it’s 10 times smaller than anything you’ve ever heard of in the whole world, in BCI brain chips [brain computer interface] market, and we’re very excited about it,’ Gribetz said. It took us six years to build this thing.
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