Ultrasound patch speeds REM sleep by 43 minutes
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- NEUSLeeP is a skin-attached bioadhesive patch that pairs low-intensity ultrasound stimulation with EEG electrodes, allowing it to noninvasively target deep brain regions involved in REM while simultaneously monitoring the brain's electrical response.
- In a study of 28 participants published in Nature Communications, the patch shortened time to REM by an average of 43 minutes and extended REM duration by approximately 16 minutes, with effects seen in both healthy sleepers and those with sleep difficulties.
- Participants described the device as comfortable and safe, and the study reported minimal adverse effects.
- Among healthy users, NEUSLeeP stimulation increased heart rate variability — a marker of the body's ability to respond to stress — while brain imaging revealed changes in circuits associated with emotion.
- The research was led by recent PhD graduate Kai Wing "Kevin" Tang under principal investigator Huiliang "Evan" Wang, with co-PIs Gregory Fonzo (Dell Medical School psychiatry) and sleep-disorders expert Vincent Mysliwiec of UT Health San Antonio.
- The team plans larger trials to test the device against PTSD, depression, and chronic insomnia, and is working with UT's Discovery to Impact commercialization unit with a patent application already filed.
Why it matters: REM sleep disruption is linked to depression, anxiety, and PTSD, and current drug-based treatments carry side effects many patients want to avoid. A noninvasive, at-home patch that cuts time-to-REM by 43 minutes while also nudging heart-rate-variability and emotion circuits offers a drug-free alternative that, if confirmed in larger trials, could become a first-line tool for the roughly 70 million Americans with chronic sleep problems.
