When virtual reality becomes a treatment to fight Alzheimer's: the promise of Clarity

Meet Raphaël Certain, founder and CEO of Clarity, a Franco-American startup that is tackling one of the biggest medical challenges of our time: neurodegenerative diseases.

Clarity is developing a novel medical device combining gamma stimulation, virtual reality and therapeutic personalization to reactivate the brain's natural self-cleaning mechanisms, boost neural plasticity and preserve the cognitive functions of patients with Alzheimer's or multiple sclerosis.
An ambitious technological approach, already supported by several hospital and academic institutions around the world.

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Can you introduce yourself and explain what Clarity does?

Raphaël Certain:

“I am Raphaël Certain, founder and CEO of Clarity, a neurotechnology company that is developing a medical device to treat neurodegenerative diseases, especially Alzheimer's.
We use visual and auditory stimulations at very specific, dysfunctional frequencies in patients' brains. These stimulations make it possible to slow down inflammatory processes, to boost neuronal plasticity and to preserve cognitive functions, such as memory, attention or the autonomy of patients.”

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What makes your approach unique?

Raphaël Certain:

“The uniqueness of our approach is that these stimulations are delivered in virtual reality environments. This makes it possible to combine technology with different types of immersive experiences, personalized according to patient preferences, and adapted to the specific needs of each individual's brain.
Virtual reality makes it possible to individualize therapeutic parameters and to adjust to the brain activity specific to each patient, making the solution adaptable to a wide variety of profiles.”

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How does your technology work on amyloid plaques in Alzheimer's?

Raphaël Certain:

“The stimulations we use, delivered at gamma frequencies, make it possible to relaunch the mechanisms for the evacuation of toxic proteins, in particular amyloid beta plaques. They contribute to reducing inflammation in the brain and maintaining the condition of neurons.
It's the daily stimulation that maintains cognitive functions over time.”

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Where are you based and with whom do you collaborate?

Raphaël Certain:

“We are a Franco-American company, based between Paris and San Francisco. We collaborate with more than six academic and hospital institutions around the world, with which we co-develop therapeutic protocols and carry out our clinical studies.
We have already carried out a first clinical study on Alzheimer's, which has proved to be positive, and we will be very happy to unveil the results very soon.”

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How to convince a future user to adopt your solution?

Raphaël Certain:

“Just by having him try it.”

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The bonus question: What does the name “Clarity” mean?

Raphaël Certain:

“Clarity means having perfect control of your health, and striving for health that is perfectly integrated into our daily lives. That's what we want to provide: an increased ability to understand, manage, and improve one's own brain function.”

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