Startup Stories: Dr. Brigitte Zrenner and Dr. Christoph Zrenner, founder of sync2brain GmbH
sync2brain bossdevice (Image source: Shalynn Crawford)
(Stuttgart/Tübingen) – The psychiatrist Dr. Brigitte Zrenner and the neurologist Dr. Christoph Zrenner have found a way to personalize transcranial magnetic stimulation for patients and make it more effective. This technology, which has been used for decades, uses strong magnetic fields to stimulate specific areas of the brain. The research couple has invented “bossdevice”, a device with which this stimulation is triggered at exactly the right time. In order to develop it to marketability, they founded sync2brain GmbH. Like CEO Dr. Ramona Samba hope that both stroke patients and people with depression and obsessive-compulsive disorder will benefit from it in the near future. The story of sync2brain: one of numerous successful start-up stories in the STERN BioRegion.
It was a few years ago, but it was exactly the right time in a laboratory at the University of Tübingen to meet and thus permanently change the possibilities of brain stimulation: Both studied medicine, both were intensively involved with real-time electroencephalograms (EEG ) and with transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). Today are Dr. Brigitte Zrenner and Dr. Christoph Zrenner is not only married to each other and parents of four children, the two scientists have launched another large project: sync2brain GmbH.
The idea – how did the product and founding come about?
The Zrenners had been interested in the idea for years: Dr. Brigitte Zrenner, a specialist in neurology and psychiatry, researches the mechanisms of pathophysiology in major depressive disorders and obsessive-compulsive disorders (OCD) as well as the translational development of individualized brain stimulation protocols. The neurologist Dr. Christoph Zrenner researches brain state-dependent brain stimulation and uses real-time electroencephalograms (EEG) to examine oscillating brain states with the aim of identifying “temporal targets” for neuromodulatory interventions. The aim is to find the perfect time in terms of brain stimulation, which determines how effective the planned therapy is. This is how the common idea arose to develop special hardware and software and bring it onto the market as a product: sync2brain was born.
In fact, the Zrenners were continuing a family tradition. The Medical Innovations Incubator, an institution that, as part of the Tübingen Foundation for Medical Innovations, supports start-ups in the medical technology sector on their path to success, was founded by Prof. Dr. med. Dr. hc mult. Eberhart Zrenner founded. Prof. Zrenner, former member of the German Science Council of the Federal Government, chief physician of ophthalmology at the University of Tübingen, emerged as the company founder himself and obviously passed on the “founder gene” to his son Christoph. Not only conducting basic research, but also developing the results into products was obvious to both father and son. Brigitte and Christoph Zrenner do not see private relationships as an obstacle at all. On the contrary: For the family with four small children, the fact that they are a team professionally and privately and pursue the same goals means that the parents can have each other’s backs.
So starting a company based on an excellent idea was – in 2019 – the first step. Now it was time to successfully develop the new company and place a product on the market. Fortunately, at the right time, Dr. Ramona Samba to the sync2brain team. The chemist with a doctorate had researched microelectrode arrays, which are used to conduct and stimulate nerve cells and measure neurotransmitters. In addition to her academic career, she received further training in management at the Steinbeis School of Management and Technology and at the St. Galler Business School and headed a division of NMI Technologietransfer GmbH in Reutlingen. In doing so, she brought exactly the specialist knowledge and economic expertise to the young company that was needed for the next steps. In 2020, she supported the application for the EXIST funding program, the approval of which led to her new position as CEO being financed.
That Dr. Samba being able to take over the management was an absolute stroke of luck for the founding couple, because they are now “alone” with the growing team at the Tübingen location. Shortly after it was founded, Brigitte and Christoph Zrenner accepted a call to the Center for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) in Toronto, Canada. At one of the largest research centers for clinical studies in psychiatry, the Zrenners are now deepening their studies on brain interventions using TMS. However, the distance between Tübingen and Toronto is irrelevant for the further development of your company at home – after all, you no longer have to sit in the same building to run a company together. And together they also contradict all the clichés about working in start-ups: never being at home, always in the laboratory, no family, no relationships, just sacrifice for “the cause”. Dr. Samba, who now has three children of her own, manages the balance and only sees advantages in being the boss: she decides for herself whether parenting appointments are important and doesn’t have to cancel anyone’s notice. And she is happy to dispel the myth of the brilliant loner working in a garage on his idea for global success. The right mix for a successful start-up consists of scientists with visionary ideas and the people responsible for implementation, organization and management.
The “Need” – Who benefits from the idea?
At least 350 million people worldwide suffer from depression. Many forms of this disease cannot be cured and the classic psychotropic drugs sometimes have serious side effects. Since in depression the left forebrain “remains” in a state of hypoexcitability, an impulse – triggered at the right time – can optimally stimulate the nerve cells in this undersupplied area. Neither anesthesia nor surgery is required. The patient, who wears an EEG cap with electrodes during the treatment, feels nothing. Transcranial magnetic stimulation can help almost anywhere there is an imbalance in the brain. For example, if it has been damaged by a stroke, the brain must learn to reorganize itself through repeated practice – usually as part of physical therapy. Through TMS, the patient’s brain can be activated and put into a state that makes it easier for him to form new networks to implement these exercises more easily. In fact, patients have been treated with TMS for years; it is listed as an approved method in the guidelines for the treatment of mental illnesses, among other things. The sync2brain team sees the optimized combination of medication, rehabilitation measures, talk therapies and TMS as a solution for many patients.
The USP – What is the innovation?
With TMS, the crucial areas of the brain are stimulated with electricity from the outside for fractions of a second using a magnetic coil. However, because the brain is highly dynamic and constantly changing, it has not been possible to react in real time to the activities and connections in the different areas of the brain. The EEG measures the brain’s excitation states and records them in oscillating curves, but since the oscillations occur in milliseconds, there was a lack of computing power and the corresponding algorithms to determine the right time. Until now, the stimulation took place at a predetermined rate, but this did not necessarily “catch” the correct oscillation point. However, studies have shown that there is a time when stimulation is particularly effective. It’s like a swing: only when it is pushed at the highest point does it achieve the strongest vibration. sync2brain GmbH has developed the “bossdevice” tool to precisely target this point in time. The Swiss Speedgoat GmbH produces the real-time computer that provides this computing power. The US company MathWorks supplies the necessary software platform. The “bossdevice” analyzes the real-time raw data stream from the EEG in less than three thousandths of a second during the treatment and recognizes the patient’s specific pattern. It synchronizes the stimulation with the individual state of the brain and makes TMS many times more effective. The development of sync2brain represents a real revolution for brain wave therapy.
“Milestones” – What happens next?
The bossdevice RESEARCH is already available on the market, but the device may only be used in research. The bossdevice MEDICAL will be certified as a medical product in the coming months so that it can be used in clinics and practices. As with many other medical devices, the certification process is considered a “bottleneck”. Sync2brain has already found the right “notified body” for the process, which will carry out the testing in accordance with the requirements of the Medical Device Regulation (MDR), the EU regulation that manufacturers who want to place medical devices on the market in the EU must comply with should.
A large multicenter stroke study has recently started under the direction of the Neurology Department of the University Hospital of Tübingen with 130 patients. A large Canadian study on the psychiatric use of TMS for OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder) is taking place at CAMH. The MDR approval for bossdevice, like the FDA approval in the USA, is probably only a matter of time. However, approval is not the only hurdle that sync2brain has to overcome: doctors and health insurance companies have to be convinced that it is worth trying something new. CEO Dr. Samba later this year; The long-term goal is to establish bossTMS therapy as a standard procedure for the treatment of stroke, depression and other neuropsychiatric diseases. A flash of inspiration from which many will benefit in the end.
Link to technology transfer page
Image source: Shalynn Crawford
About BioRegio STERN Management GmbH:
BioRegio STERN Management GmbH is an economic developer for the life sciences industry. It promotes innovations and start-ups on a public mission and thus contributes to strengthening the location. In the Stuttgart and Neckar-Alb regions with the cities of Tübingen and Reutlingen, it is the central contact point for founders and entrepreneurs.
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