Motif Neurotech: Miniature implant for depression

Main article: Depression

2023: Introducing an implant to treat depression

A miniature implant for the treatment of depression is presented. This was EverCare.ru announced by Zdrav.Expert on October 9, 2023.

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Neurostimulation has been proven to help alleviate symptoms of major depressive disorder, including difficult-to-treat cases of therapy-resistant depression. True, the technologies existing in October 2023 often require patients to either visit a clinic for regular therapy sessions, or perform open brain surgery to implant a neurostimulation device.

Motif Neurotech is committed to changing the scheme. Their neuromodulation implant allows therapy without leaving home and without resorting to particularly invasive and risky surgical interventions.

The company has not yet received regulatory approval for either the use or comprehensive clinical trials of the device. But results from the first human study suggest that it may indeed offer a safe, minimally invasive approach to using neurostimulation to treat severe depression.

The DOT device, so called because it is a digitally programmable therapeutic device located above the brain (digitally programmable over-brain therapeutic), has a size of only about one centimeter across. It does not connect to wires and does not contain a battery. Instead, a separate magnetic coil and driver system wirelessly communications transmits power data to the implant housed in the glass housing that houses the stimulation electrode.

Motif's special pride is the fact that the miniature wireless device does not touch the brain or its protective shell at all. It is simply placed in a 14-mm hole in the skull during a minimally invasive outpatient procedure, which, according to company representatives, takes only 20 minutes, and with its help can affect certain areas of the brain.

The company ultimately plans to refine its neuromodulation technology to a home treatment system that will connect a wearable headset to a DOT implant for regular sessions with a so-called "brain pacemaker."

This tiny device, which cannot be seen after implantation, provides stimulation at home and engages brain networks known as a target for treating depression. This is the same brain region that is activated by transcranial magnetic stimulation, which has proven effective in treating major depressive disorder, but requires frequent clinic visits and usually brings only temporary relief. This home therapy has the potential to revolutionize the treatment of depressed patients, stated neurosurgeon and co-founder of Motif, Dr. Samir Sheth.

A study conducted at the Baylor St. Luke's Medical Center in Houston (USA) proved that the DOT device can be safely implanted into the skull of patients and from there successfully reach the specified brain regions for neurostimulatory therapy.

Scientists also conducted a longer study of the implant. Although these observations lasted a month and were conducted not in humans, but in large animals, they also showed that the device is able to stably provide safe and effective brain stimulation^[1].

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