The Race to Read Your Mind Without Surgery Has Begun

Two weeks. That's how long it took for the brain-computer interface landscape to shift from surgical implants to sound waves. First, OpenAI announced a major investment in ultrasound-based Merge Labs. Now, Chinese startup Gestala has emerged with the same ambitious goal: accessing your brain without cutting it open.

The timing isn't coincidental. While companies like Neuralink grab headlines with surgical implants, a quieter revolution is brewing in the world of non-invasive brain interfaces. Gestala, founded in Chengdu with offices in Shanghai and Hong Kong, represents China's latest entry into this race—and their approach could fundamentally change how we think about treating mental illness.

Beyond Pregnancy Scans: Ultrasound's Brain Ambitions

Most people know ultrasound from pregnancy appointments—those grainy images of developing babies. But Gestala CEO Phoenix Peng sees something entirely different in those high-frequency sound waves: a pathway to the brain that doesn't require drilling through skull bone.

The science is already proven in limited applications. Focused ultrasound treatments are FDA-approved for Parkinson's disease, uterine fibroids, and certain tumors. The technology can destroy abnormal tissue or modulate neural activity with surgical precision, but without the surgery.

Gestala's first target is chronic pain—specifically, stimulating the anterior cingulate cortex, the brain region that processes pain's emotional component. Early pilot studies suggest patients could experience pain relief lasting up to a week from a single ultrasound session.

The company's roadmap is deliberately incremental. Their first-generation device will be a stationary machine requiring clinic visits. The second generation promises a wearable helmet for at-home use under physician guidance. Eventually, they want to expand beyond pain to depression, stroke rehabilitation, Alzheimer's disease, and sleep disorders.

The Whole Brain vs. The Motor Cortex

Here's where Gestala's approach gets interesting—and controversial. Traditional brain-computer interfaces, including Neuralink's, read electrical signals from neurons. They're incredibly precise but limited in scope, typically focusing on specific brain regions like the motor cortex.

Ultrasound-based interfaces would instead measure changes in blood flow throughout the brain. As Peng explains: "The electrical brain-computer interface only records from a part of the brain. Ultrasound, it seems like, can provide us with the capability to access the whole brain."

This isn't just technical ambition—it's a fundamentally different philosophy. While Peng's previous company, NeuroXess, developed traditional electrical implants for paralyzed patients, Gestala aims for something broader: reading and modulating brain states associated with mental health conditions across the entire organ.

The Engineering Reality Check

But can ultrasound actually deliver on these promises? Georgetown University'sMaximilian Riesenhuber offers a sobering perspective: "The skull weakens and distorts ultrasound signals." So far, researchers have only successfully read neural activity with ultrasound by removing portions of skull to create "windows" into the brain—hardly the non-invasive solution being promised.

There's also the speed problem. Blood flow changes are sluggish compared to neural activity, potentially making ultrasound unsuitable for applications requiring real-time responsiveness, like translating thoughts into speech.

Riesenhuber is blunt about the timeline: "I don't expect people to be interfacing with ChatGPT based on functional ultrasound neuroimaging anytime soon."

The Geopolitical Brain Race

Gestala's emergence highlights a broader trend: China's accelerating investment in brain-computer interface technology. The company's cofounder, Tianqiao Chen, previously built online gaming giant Shanda Interactive Entertainment and now runs the Tianqiao and Chrissy Chen Institute, supporting neuroscience research globally.

This isn't just about medical applications. Merge Labs' website hints at grander ambitions: "expand what we can imagine and create alongside advanced AI." The implications for human-AI interaction, cognitive enhancement, and even surveillance capabilities haven't gone unnoticed by governments worldwide.

The company name itself—Gestala, derived from Gestalt psychology—reflects this holistic ambition. The German school's famous principle, "the whole is greater than the sum of its parts," perfectly captures the ultrasound approach: understanding the brain as an integrated system rather than isolated regions.