TECNALIA leads the development of a pioneering prototype of non-invasive neuromodulation for pathologies such as strokes and Parkinson's disease
- The applied research and technological development centre has led the development of a system that guides and transports nanoparticles through the blood-brain barrier and uses them to modulate the activity of target neurons with absolute precision
- The project shows how non-invasive neuromodulation opens up new therapeutic possibilities and anticipates safer, more selective and more accessible treatments for neurological pathologies
- This is a pioneering development thanks to working in conjunction with Achucarro, DIPC, CFM, FBB, CUN, Bitbrain and the EHU
Donostia, 4th May 2026. TECNALIA, the applied research and technological development centre has led the development and validation of a pioneering prototype focused on ultra-precise neuronal stimulation through the excitation with light and magnetic fields of selective nanoparticles from outside the body, i.e. in a non-intrusive way, which opens up a new way to treat neurological diseases such as strokes or Parkinson's disease without the need for surgery.
The non-invasive tools currently available, such as Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) or Transcranial Electrical Stimulation (TES), have significant limitations in terms of resolution and depth, and pharmacological solutions are not very efficient, especially due to their inability to cross the blood-brain barrier (a barrier that regulates the passage of substances between the blood and the brain, protecting the central nervous system), as this structure protects the brain, but also prevents many drugs from reaching the neuronal tissue where they should act, reducing the effectiveness of existing treatments.
Experimental phase
This development led by TECNALIA, known as the Neumonas project, allows for selective, deep, multi-focal, safe neuromodulation that does not require surgery. Possible clinical applications range from repairing brain damage to strengthening weakened neuronal connections. Furthermore, its intuitive and affordable design facilitates its use in preclinical research, integrating all modules into a single platform for rodent experimentation.
According to Ander Ramos, TECNALIA's Senior Researcher in Medical Technologies and Head of the Neurotechnology Focus Group, the human brain, "with as many neurons as there are stars in the Milky Way and a network of connections that triples that of the entire Internet, can lose functionality due to pathologies such as strokes or Parkinson's disease. The possibility of precisely modulating its activity from the outside, without the need for surgery opens up a completely new therapeutic horizon".
- The system is based on two types of nanoparticles, designed and developed by Marek Grzelczak's team at the Materials Physics Centre (CFM, joint CSIC-EHU), are between 100 and 10,000 times smaller than a neuron.
- On the one hand, gold nanoparticles, which transform light into heat to activate neurons.
- On the other, magnetic nanoparticles, in collaboration with Maite Insausti's team at the EHU, which convert magnetic energy into heat. Both nanoparticles are functionalised to facilitate the guidance of the nanoparticles to the target cells thanks to the work of Mónica Carril's group at the EHU and FBB.
From the Donostia International Physics Center (DIPC), the team led by Aitzol Garcia-Etxarri carried out the theoretical simulations required for the design of the nanoparticles, which were later validated by TECNALIA in experiments, along with the calculations to determine and control the transformation of light and magnetic energy into heat.
As Ramos points out, "facilitating the delivery of nanoparticles to the affected area, the system enables the blood-brain barrier to be opened in a precise, controlled and reversible way".
TECNALIA has installed the prototype at the Sols Morreale Biomedical Research Institute of the CSIC and has validated it in mice thanks to the preclinical work carried out with Abraham Martin's team at the Achucarro Basque Center for Neuroscience.
Validation has led to very promising neuroprotective results both in strokes (reducing the risk of death and the volume of the damage) and in Parkinson's disease (halting progression and improving symptoms), so "the next logical and necessary step is to transfer it to humans", says Ramos.
Moreover, with a view to this transition, a neuromodulation monitoring system for humans based on high-density electroencephalography (a sensorised cap that takes less than five minutes to fit and set up) has already been developed (with the help of Luis Montesano's team at Bitbrain technologies) and validated in patients with Parkinson's disease (thanks to collaboration with Maricruz Rodríguez's team at the Clínica Universitaria de Navarra) to detect and monitor deep neuronal activity in real time.
Neumonas Project
Neumonas is a Pre-commercial Public Procurement Initiative for the development of R&D services in the field of non-invasive neuromodulation technologies, funded by the European Union (NextGenerationEU), the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities, CDTI and co-funded by the Recovery and Resilience Mechanism (RRM).
To develop this project, the following centres have worked with TECNALIA: ACHUCARRO BASQUE CENTRE FOR NEUROSCIENCE FOUNDATION, DONOSTIA INTERNATIONAL PHYSICS CENTER (DIPC) FOUNDATION, Bit&Brain Technologies; University of Navarra -Clínica Universidad de Navarra (CUN); BIZKAIA BIOPHYSICS FOUNDATION (FBB), MATERIALS PHYSICS CENTER RESEARCH ASSOCIATION (MPC), EHU (University of the Basque Country - Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea).
Developments in the Neumonas project are based on Prior Knowledge that has been generated in the Basque Nanoneuro Network (B3N) initiative of the IKUR strategy, as a Strategic Research project within the framework of the Basque Strategic Investment Plan 2022-2024 thanks to the support and funding of the Basque Government's Department of Science, Universities and Innovation.