Grant: Idea to Innovation

The cognitive assessment and training market is projected to grow from $3.2 billion in 2020 to $11.4 billion by 2025, at a CAGR of 29.3%. Many important brain health parameters can't be measured directly using conventional technologies; one such metric is cortical resilience-the ability of a brain network to recover from a transient challenge. We have studied the possibility of modelling the resilience potential of brain networks over the past decade using a new variant of magnetic brain stimulation, known as continuous theta burst stimulation (cTBS). Application of cTBS to the parts of the prefrontal cortex results in a transient suppressive effect on neuron populations that lasts on average 40 minutes; the net effect of this suppressive effect can be gleaned vis-à-vis reliable decrements in cognitive task performance (Lowe, Manocchio, Safati & Hall, 2018). This suppressive effect, however, is subject to individual variability, and some of that variability may carry important meaning. The recovery of the initial baseline-and the dissipation of the applied suppressive effect of cTBS-can be taken as a measure of cortical resilience (Hall et al., 2020). We have developed a series of protocols to refine the process for eliciting the cortical resilience metric, as well as 6 other new metrics, all of which assess unique aspects of cortical function that are not currently obtained from any existing assessment process on the market. Our invention received an enthusiastic market assessment in 2021, and a Canadian patent in 2022, followed by a provisional US patent. The latter is currently under prosecution, but initial indicators are that it is likely to be successful. We have also since designed a piece of equipment involving integration of the required protocol hardware elements into a single product, which can be interoperable with conventional rTMS devices already on the market. This new equipment (which augments our original, already patented IP) will involve a combined head stabilization frame, retractable visual screen for cognitive test presentation, and built in sensors to detect changes in brain activity to quantify the perturbation and recovery effects that are critical to the resilience metric and others described in our initial patent.