Making these therapies simpler, safer, and more accessible
At the intersection of engineering and medicine, researchers at NYU Abu Dhabi have fashioned something as small as a seed into a potential turning point for millions living with chronic pain and movement disorders. Threaded into the body through a standard needle and powered without wires or batteries, this injectable device delivers precise electrical signals to targeted nerves — no surgery, no incision, no lengthy recovery. It is a quiet but consequential answer to one of medicine's oldest tensions: how to offer the precision of an implant without the burden of one. In making advanced neurological care simpler to deliver and easier to access, the work asks us to reconsider what we have long accepted as the necessary cost of treatment.
- Millions of patients with chronic pain and movement disorders face a stark choice between blunt systemic medications and high-risk surgical implants — a gap this device is designed to close.
- The seed-sized injectable can be placed near a target nerve using only a standard needle, with no battery, no wires, and no operating room required.
- Wireless power delivery and real-time programmability allow doctors and patients to adjust nerve stimulation on the fly, matching treatment to the shifting demands of each individual's condition.
- Preclinical testing confirmed the device can accurately and consistently activate nerves in living tissue, clearing a critical threshold on the path toward human clinical trials.
- By reducing surgical risk, shortening recovery, and lowering costs, the technology could extend access to precision neurological care far beyond the patients currently reached by existing implant therapies.
A research team at NYU Abu Dhabi, working alongside Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi, has developed a device no larger than a seed that can be injected through a standard medical needle and positioned near a target nerve to deliver programmable electrical stimulation. It requires no surgery, no implanted battery, and no physical wires — power reaches it wirelessly from outside the body, and its behavior can be adjusted in real time by clinicians or patients.
The problem the device addresses is longstanding. Treating chronic pain and movement disorders has historically meant choosing between medications that act broadly and carry side effects, or surgically implanted devices that offer precision but demand invasive procedures and their attendant risks. This technology occupies a new middle ground — minimally invasive to place, yet capable of the targeted nerve control that only implants have previously offered. Standard imaging tools like ultrasound and CT scans can confirm its placement and track it over time.
Prof. Khalil Ramadi, the project's senior author, described the work as a fundamental shift in how neurological conditions might be managed — not by replacing existing therapies, but by making advanced treatment safer, simpler, and available to more people. In preclinical testing, the device successfully stimulated nerves with accuracy and consistency in living tissue, a result that points toward eventual clinical application.
First author Dr. Mohamed Elsherif framed the device as a bridge between two previously separate worlds: the ease of non-invasive therapies and the precision of traditional implants. The research was published in Science Advances. Dr. Sawsan Abdel-Razig of Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi noted that the cross-institutional collaboration itself modeled how academic partnerships can accelerate the translation of research into genuine improvements in patient care — reducing not only surgical risk and recovery time, but the broader cost of delivering advanced neurological treatment.
A team of researchers at NYU Abu Dhabi has created something that looks like a seed but functions as a precision instrument for the nervous system. The device, developed in partnership with Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi, can be threaded into the body through a standard needle and positioned near a target nerve, where it delivers electrical signals that reshape how that nerve behaves. No surgery required. No battery implanted under the skin. No wires trailing from the device to an external pack. Instead, power arrives wirelessly from outside the body, and doctors or patients can adjust what the device does in real time, tailoring treatment to the moment.
The challenge the researchers were solving is old: how to treat chronic pain and movement disorders without asking patients to undergo major surgical procedures. Existing options tend to fall into two camps—medications that work systemically and can carry side effects, or implanted devices that require invasive placement and carry the risks that come with any surgery. This new approach occupies a middle ground. It offers the precision of an implant with the accessibility of a minimally invasive procedure. A standard medical needle delivers it. Standard imaging—ultrasound, CT scans—can track it and confirm placement. Once positioned, it sends programmable electrical stimulation to the target nerve, allowing doctors to customize the treatment based on what each patient needs.
Prof. Khalil Ramadi, the senior author and an assistant professor of bioengineering at NYU Abu Dhabi and NYU Tandon, framed the work as a fundamental shift in how neurological conditions get treated. The point, he explained, was not to replace existing therapies but to make advanced treatment simpler, safer, and reachable for more people while preserving the ability to control nerve activity with precision. In preclinical testing, the device proved it could do what it was designed to do: stimulate nerves with accuracy and consistency, even under conditions that mimicked real-world use. It successfully activated nerves in living tissue, suggesting the technology could move from the lab toward clinical application.
Dr. Mohamed Elsherif, the first author and a research associate at NYU Abu Dhabi, described the device as a bridge between two worlds—the non-invasive therapies that are easy to deliver but sometimes lack precision, and the traditional implants that offer control but demand surgery. This technology, he suggested, could be both effective and simple to administer, a combination that might reshape how patients experience treatment. The research was published in Science Advances, the peer-reviewed journal of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Dr. Sawsan Abdel-Razig, Chief Academic Officer at Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi, emphasized that the collaboration reflected a commitment to research that translates into real improvements in patient care. By bringing together expertise across disciplines and institutions, the work demonstrated how academic partnerships can accelerate the development of therapies that are not only safer and less invasive but also more widely accessible. The potential impact extends beyond the patients who might receive the treatment: by reducing the need for major procedures and simplifying how advanced therapies reach patients, the device could lower surgical risks, shorten recovery times, and reduce the overall cost of care. What began as a question about how to control nerve activity without opening a patient's body has become a working answer, one small enough to fit through a needle.
Citas Notables
By creating a device that can be injected rather than surgically implanted, we are making these therapies simpler, safer, and more accessible, while still maintaining precise control over nerve activity.— Prof. Khalil Ramadi, NYU Abu Dhabi
This technology has the potential to bridge the gap between non-invasive therapies and traditional implants, opening the door to treatments that are both effective and easy to deliver.— Dr. Mohamed Elsherif, NYU Abu Dhabi
La Conversación del Hearth Otra perspectiva de la historia
Why does it matter that this device doesn't require surgery?
Surgery carries real costs—infection risk, anesthesia complications, recovery time, the psychological weight of a procedure. If you can deliver the same precision without opening someone's body, you've removed barriers to treatment. More people become candidates.
But how does wireless power actually work at that scale?
The device receives energy from an external transmitter, much like wireless charging on a phone. The transmitter sits outside the body and sends power across the skin. It's not new physics, but miniaturizing it to seed size and making it reliable in tissue—that's the engineering challenge they solved.
What happens if the patient moves around? Does the wireless signal stay strong?
That's why imaging matters. Doctors can see where the device is and adjust the external transmitter's position if needed. It's not a set-it-and-forget-it system. There's real-time feedback and control built in.
Who benefits first from this?
Probably people with chronic pain or movement disorders who've exhausted other options or can't tolerate medications. Anyone currently facing the choice between living with symptoms or undergoing implant surgery. That's a meaningful population.
Is this ready for patients now?
Not yet. Preclinical testing confirmed it works in tissue. The next step is clinical trials—human studies to prove safety and efficacy. That takes years. But the proof of concept is solid.
What's the biggest remaining question?
Long-term biocompatibility. How does the body respond to having this device present for months or years? Does it degrade? Does scar tissue form around it? Those are the questions clinical trials will answer.