Weekly Signal: 21 | Noninvasive Neuromodulation Steps Forward

Table of Contents

• Weekly Signal

• Complete our community challenge

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• Help us Improve

🧠 Weekly Signal

Neurotechnology News | Aug 16–22, 2025

Let's cut through the noise this week!

This week, we saw ultrasound-triggered drug delivery achieve noninvasive neuromodulation in vivo and graphene optoelectronics drive neuron control without genetics. Meanwhile, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration cleared two neuromodulation devices for facial pain and obsessive–compulsive disorder. Bottom line: translational neurotech is advancing while regulators sharpen expectations on data security.

🧠 SCIENCE & CLINICAL TRIALS

🟢 Ultrasound-activated liposomes enable targeted neuromodulation in vivo

Published: August 18, 2025
Read more ➡️ News-Medical / Nature Nanotechnology

Researchers engineered liposomes with a 5% sucrose core that release drug under pulsed, low-intensity ultrasound, delivering ~3× more ketamine to targeted rat brain regions versus off-target areas. A 2.5-minute ultrasound to the sciatic nerve produced ≥1 hour of local anesthesia, highlighting a controllable, noninvasive approach.

💡 Big Picture: Drug-gated neuromodulation could focus potent agents where needed, improving efficacy while reducing systemic side effects.

🟢 Graphene optoelectronic actuators modulate neurons and link organoids to robots

Published: August 20, 2025
Read more ➡️ Technology Networks / Nature Communications

A graphene-mediated optical stimulation (GraMOS) platform drove neuron activity without genetic modification, accelerated organoid maturation, and enabled a closed-loop robot response in <50 ms. The capacitive, non-thermal mechanism provided precise, repeatable control across 2D and 3D systems.

💡 Big Picture: Non-genetic, light-driven neuromodulation expands toolkits for disease models and future biohybrid interfaces.

💼 INDUSTRY & STARTUPS

🟢 NeuroOne wins FDA clearance for OneRF trigeminal nerve ablation

Published: August 18, 2025
Read more ➡️ Medtech Dive / NeuroOne Press Release

The OneRF system uses targeted radiofrequency energy to ablate trigeminal nerve fibers for severe facial pain, with a limited U.S. launch in Q4 2025. Coverage notes potential impact for ~150,000 Americans with trigeminal neuralgia.

💡 Big Picture: Adds a minimally invasive, device-based option to the facial-pain landscape, diversifying neuro-interventional toolsets.

🟢 neurocare’s Apollo TMS gains FDA indication for OCD

Published: August 20, 2025
Read more ➡️  Biospace

The clearance extends Apollo Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) devices to obsessive–compulsive disorder, broadening non-pharmacologic options for clinics already using TMS. Workflow-aligned availability should ease deployment.

💡 Big Picture: The expanded indication underscores steady clinical uptake of neuromodulation for psychiatric care.

🏛️ POLICY & ETHICS

🟢 FTC warns tech firms against weakening U.S. data security to satisfy foreign laws

Published: August 21, 2025
Read more ➡️ Reuters / FTC Press Release

Chair Andrew Ferguson sent letters to more than a dozen firms (e.g., Apple, Alphabet, Microsoft) warning that cutting encryption or security to meet foreign requirements could be deceptive under the FTC Act. The model letter stresses obligations to protect Americans’ data and avoid censorship at foreign governments’ behest.

💡 Big Picture: Heightened U.S. scrutiny of data practices affects all high-sensitivity streams—including neural data in consumer and clinical settings.

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