Theses›Healthcare & bio›Non-invasive brain measurement

Non-invasive brain measurement

Non-invasive brain measurement: a new-modality cohort (OPM-MEG, functional NIRS, transcranial ultrasound, portable MRI) chasing a market the three imaging incumbents already own

  • Bear
  • Early
  • $24B by 2035

The callThe physics works and the cohort is funded; what is missing is a payment code, and GE, Siemens and Philips control the channel. A reimbursed test is the opening.

D1D2D3R1R2R3C1foragainst D1D2D3R1R2R3C1foragainst
Fig. 1The balance. Drivers and catalysts against restraints, each block sized by its weight; catalysts hang dashed because they have not happened yet, sized by their odds. It tips toward the restraints.
  1. D1The brain becomes a routinely measured organ, at the bedside and at home, for epilepsy, stroke, dementia and depression, and as a drug-trial endpoint.
  2. D2Room-temperature quantum magnetometers, through-skull ultrasound and low-field MRI with reconstruction maths replace the shielded room and the big magnet.
  3. D3The cohort is real and funded: 22 neurotech companies raised $2.275B between Jun 2025 and May 2026.
  4. R1GE, Siemens and Philips own the market and the hospital channel, so a new modality reaches patients through them and the exit is a tuck-in.
  5. R2No new modality has a payment code, and each has been about to arrive for a decade; Sonalis itself puts clinical use 5-6 years out.
  6. R3Hyperfine, with FDA clearance and about $13.6M of sales, has not changed the category; Kernel is the other base rate.
  7. C1A reimbursement code with a national payment amount for a new modality, which would make it a billable test; nothing on the calendar yet.end-2029
Rests onthe beliefs underneath
Supported by · confidence
Threatened by · confidence
What would prove itdated tests, open and resolved
2027202820292030today1234predictionswatch 2027202820292030today1234predictionswatch
Fig. 2Each ring is a dated test: dashed while open, struck through when overdue, ticked or crossed once resolved.
  1. 1BrainCo completes its Hong Kong listing by 30 Jun 2027, the first listed pure-play non-invasive BCI company.Jun 2027 · open
  2. 2By 31 Dec 2027 non-invasive approaches take 40% or more of disclosed BCI venture capital in a calendar year, up from roughly 30% in 2025-26.Mar 2028 · open
  3. 3The call that no new-modality company sells or lists above $500M.Dec 2029 · open
  4. 4GE, Siemens or Philips paying a large sum for one of these companies, which would re-size it.Dec 2029 · open
  • ·No non-invasive new-modality brain measurement company is acquired above $500M, or reaches an independent listing above $500M, by 31 Dec 2029.
Expressionslisted, private, technologies
  • GEHCGE HealthCare
    • not screened
     Sells MRI, CT and PET scanners used for brain imaging to hospitals and imaging centres.
  • SHL.DESiemens Healthineers
    • full
     Sells MRI, CT and PET scanners used for brain imaging to hospitals.
  • PHGPhilips
    • not screened
     Sells MRI and CT scanners and EEG-adjacent neuro products to hospitals.
  • 7751.TCanon Medical Systems
    • expensive
     Sells MRI and CT scanners to hospitals, including neuro imaging protocols.
  • 688271.SSUnited Imaging Healthcare
    • not screened
     Sells MRI, CT and PET scanners, mainly to Chinese hospitals.
Private · 19 private companies, 10 of them in the US.

Piramidal · Merge Labs · Iconeus · Gestala · Forest Neurotech · Brain-Device Era · Fieldline Inc. · FieldLine Medical · York Instruments · Kernel · Aivon (subsidiary of Becker & Hickl) · Perfectly Clear / Neuroelectrics · Cerephex / Deep Light · Openwater · Bridge Neurotech · Ceribell · MindScriber · FieldLine (FieldLine Medical) · Sonalis

Technologies
Who has already bet on itprivate rounds, from public sources

$443M raised by 7 companies, $336M of it in the last three years. Wave under way: Large rounds in the last three years; the category is funded and getting crowded.

Backed by a top-tier venture firm: Kernel.

What changedthe record, newest first
  • 4 Nov 2026Non-invasive brain tech is drawing its first large rounds, but implants still take most of the money.