This article was first published in the August 2015 issue of WIRED magazine. Be the first to read WIRED's articles in print before they're posted online, and get your hands on loads of additional content by subscribing online
This is not a swimming cap -- it's a wireless brain-helmet that can measure and electrically stimulate your neurons. "The cap has eight electrodes that allow doctors to monitor the brain remotely via EEG signals, and also send in controlled electrical currents to the brain," says Ana Maiques, co-founder and CEO of Neuroelectrics, the Barcelona-based company behind the cap. "You can diagnose diseases by looking at the brainwaves, and treat certain illnesses by exciting or inhibiting neural activity." Treatable diseases include severe depression, epilepsy, neuropathic pain and post-stroke motor rehabilitation.
The €10,000 (£7,000) devices have been sold to research institutions and clinics in more than 35 countries. "Veterans' hospitals in the US use it to research post-stroke and PTSD treatment, and we are working with Nasa to research brain fatigue," says Maiques, 43. Last year, Neuroelectrics -- which launched its cap in 2012 and has been profitable since 2013 -- sold €1.5m-worth of devices and is growing at 50 per cent every year.
Maiques's ultimate goal is to get the helmets into patients' homes. "Repeated stimulation makes the brain more plastic, and the effects of the treatment last longer," she says. "If we can send patients home with the device, doctors can treat them over six months, compared to two or three weeks at a time." Even in a patient's home, the device is always controlled wirelessly by a doctor who can remotely apply two-milliamp currents for 20 minutes at a time. The patient's EEG responses are uploaded via Bluetooth into a virtual clinic.
The device is certified for medical use in Europe and is being tested for home use by clinics in Barcelona and Lyons. "I want to expand its uses and enable early diagnosis and treatment of conditions such as Alzheimer's."
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
