Gestalt Technology Secures $214M in Angel Round Funding to Accelerate Clinical Development of Ultrasonic Brain-Computer Interface | Exclusive from 36Kr

36Kr learned that Gestala, an ultrasonic brain-computer interface company, recently received 150 million yuan in angel round financing, jointly led by Guosheng Capital and Daotong Investment, with follow-on investments from institutions and companies such as Qingsong Capital, Gobi Partners, Fourier Intelligence, Liepin, and Yunshi Capital. The financing will be mainly used for the R & D of the first product and early clinical trials.

In the upsurge of brain-computer interface entrepreneurship and investment, the "ultrasonic brain-computer" technology has attracted much attention recently. In particular, Sam Altman personally got involved and founded Merge Labs with scientists from the California Institute of Technology, using new technologies such as ultrasound and gene therapy to explore new paths for "brain-computer interaction". This company also received 250 million US dollars in angel round financing including investments from OpenAI in January this year.

Gestala was founded in January this year, jointly founded by Peng Lei, Shanda Group, and Chen Tianqiao, the founder of the Tianqiao Institute of Brain Science. Peng Lei, the founder and CEO, has 25 years of entrepreneurial experience and has participated in the establishment of well - known companies such as Brain Tiger Technology and Keruyun. Currently, the Gestala team has about 15 people, including scientists in the fields of acoustics, neuroscience, molecular biology, AI, etc., and a senior engineering team in the fields of ultrasonic imaging, neural regulation, and brain - computer interfaces.

At this stage, the mainstream brain - computer interface solutions can be generally divided into two categories: invasive/semi - invasive brain - computer interfaces. By implanting electrodes, they can obtain high - spatio - temporal resolution electroencephalogram signals, but craniotomy surgeries deter non - critically ill patients. Non - invasive solutions, such as transcranial magnetic and electrical stimulation, are highly safe, but have limited spatial resolution and usually have difficulty acting on deep brain regions.

So, is it possible to build a non - invasive, precise, and whole - brain "reading and writing system" that can act on the deep brain? Brain imaging and neural regulation technology based on ultrasound is one of the research directions of scientists in recent years.

"Among the four brain regulation methods of sound, light, electricity, and magnetism, ultrasound has unique advantages. Ultrasound is not a new technology and has a history of over 50 years in medical imaging, and the ultrasonic scalpel is also relatively mature. However, the key breakthrough in the past decade lies in low - intensity focused ultrasound. Academic research has found that it can regulate the neural activity of specific brain regions without damaging neurons, producing excitatory or inhibitory regulatory effects. These scientific discoveries and preliminary clinical studies make the development of ultrasonic brain - computer interfaces possible." Peng Lei told 36Kr.

The core of ultrasonic neural regulation is to convert pure mechanical waves into bio - electrical signals that neurons can respond to. Its mechanism can be regarded as a "symphony" of the combined action of physics and biology:

After the sound waves enter the brain tissue, they first produce a thermal effect. A slight temperature increase changes the membrane fluidity of the cell membrane, assisting in regulating excitability. The cavitation effect generates micro - flows and shear forces during the oscillation of micro - bubbles, transmitting acoustic energy to the cell membrane. Mechanical forces and acoustic radiation forces directly "push and pull" the membrane structure, causing deformation. The deformation of the neuron cell membrane changes the capacitance and activates mechanically sensitive ion channels, causing the inflow of sodium, calcium and other ions, leading to membrane depolarization. Once the threshold is reached, an action potential is generated and propagates along the neuron.

According to Peng Lei, through a phased - array transducer with multiple ultrasonic emission units, by precisely controlling the time and phase, in theory, it is possible to stimulate a specific small area (4 - 8 mm range) through the skull, and the depth of targeted regulation of the brain region can reach 6 - 7 cm. This means that it may act on deep - seated structures such as the thalamus, hippocampus, and basal ganglia, and these regions are closely related to diseases such as Parkinson's, depression, epilepsy, and chronic pain.

In terms of "reading" the functional state of the brain, functional ultrasonic imaging infers the activity state of the brain region by detecting the tiny blood flow changes caused by neural activity. However, the current ultrasonic brain - computer still faces many challenges. A significant physical limitation is the "temporal resolution". Since the hemodynamic response lags behind the electrical signal discharge, the blood flow signal read by functional ultrasonic imaging naturally has a 1 - 1.5 - second delay, which limits its application in real - time high - frequency interaction scenarios (such as instant control of robotic arms).

"Developing an ultrasonic brain - computer interface system, the challenges at the engineering implementation level are not lower than those of Neuralink ten years ago, especially in the design of phased - array transducers and the development of skull compensation algorithms. It is necessary to ensure that after the ultrasound passes through the skull, its action position, energy distribution, temporal and spatial resolution can be precisely controlled within the 4 - 8 mm range. It is also necessary to solve engineering problems such as power consumption management, heat control, chip integration, communication stability, and volume constraints of the probe." Peng Lei explained. In his opinion, leading a diverse interdisciplinary team to seek breakthroughs in the cutting - edge hard - science direction of brain science is precisely his own advantage and vision.

In terms of clinical scenarios, Gestala has chosen "chronic pain management" as the first indication for implementation. On the one hand, the number of pain patients is large, and the curative effect evaluation is relatively objective. On the other hand, there is solid data support in current clinical exploration. "Previous studies have shown that a single 45 - minute ultrasonic stimulation can reduce the pain scale score by 50%, and the effect can last for 1 - 2 weeks."

It is reported that at the same time, Gestala is also exploring the expansion of indications to mental diseases such as depression, PTSD, and addiction, as well as neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease. Currently, it has established a clinical research cooperation framework with top - level tertiary medical institutions such as Huashan Hospital Affiliated to Fudan University, West China Hospital of Sichuan University, and Peking Union Medical College Hospital.

In medical rehabilitation scenarios such as motor function recovery, Gestala cooperates with Fourier Intelligence, the investor in this round, to explore the construction of a closed - loop training mechanism of "intention - execution - sensory feedback", promoting the upgrading of rehabilitation means from passive mechanical compensation to active intention - driven.

When talking about the similarities and differences in the technical routes between Gestala and Merge Labs founded by Sam Altman, Peng Lei said that he had communicated with Merge Labs many times before. The underlying routes of the two companies are the same, but Gestala has set a "progressive" entrepreneurial path for gradual clinical implementation:

In the first stage, use the physical properties of ultrasound to achieve non - invasive neural regulation and treat some neurological and mental diseases without implanting devices. In the second stage, achieve more stable brain activity reading ability and combine it with the regulation ability to form a closed - loop system. In the third stage, gene editing and protein engineering technologies will be introduced, and through optogenetics, further improve the bandwidth, temporal and spatial resolution of the system.

He believes that China has unique advantages in the ultrasonic brain - computer interface track. Rich clinical resources, highly advantageous clinical trial costs, a perfect high - end manufacturing supply chain, and national policy and strategic support are all opportunities for Chinese enterprises to "change lanes and run side by side". "However, the essence of life science is to treat diseases and save lives. The complementary capabilities and cooperation between China and the United States in basic brain science research and medical device innovation will bring more long - term benefits."