Company profileBioelectronic medicine
neuroloop
Selective stimulation of the vagus nerve with a multichannel cuff electrode, to lower blood pressure that medication cannot control.
- Location
- Freiburg, Germany
- Founded
- 2016
- Class
- Bioelectronic medicineAlso: NeuromodulationA peripheral nerve interface for a cardiovascular condition. Nothing is decoded from the brain, so it is not counted as a BCI company. It is here because its selective, multichannel nerve electrode is the kind of technology peripheral neural interfaces are built from.Not counted among core BCI companies.
- Also known as
- neuroloop GmbH · Neuroloop · baroloop
- Website
- neuroloop.de
- Sources last checked
- 5 Oct 2026
What they are building
Freiburg spin-off developing baroloop, an implanted stimulator with a thin-film cuff electrode around the vagus nerve. Its many contacts are meant to activate the fibres that signal blood pressure to the brain while leaving the rest of the nerve alone.
- Interface category
- Peripheral nerve stimulation
- Signal
- Electrical pulses to nerve fibres
- Invasiveness
- Invasive
- Recording / stimulation
- Stimulation
- Device
- baroloop — Implanted stimulator with a thin-film multichannel cuff electrode around the left vagus nerve
- Regulatory status
- Investigational; FDA Breakthrough designation (2023), not cleared or approved
- Main use cases
- Restore
- Works with
- UMC Utrecht
Where they are clinically
Clinical study
A larger structured study of safety and performance, short of a pivotal trial.
The first-in-human study was terminated after four participants; the registry gives the reason as "device modifications needed". A multicentre study with 120 participants planned has been recruiting since May 2024. The device is investigational: an FDA Breakthrough designation is not a clearance, and the company says its European conformity assessment is not complete.
Access today
Clinical study
Accessible only by enrolling in a registered clinical study.
- Shown in people
- A first-in-human study ended after four participants, with the registry giving the reason as device modifications needed.
- Still an aim
- Lowering blood pressure that medication cannot control. A 120-participant study has been recruiting since May 2024.
- What stands in the way
- Selectivity in a living nerve: activating the fibres that signal blood pressure and no others.
On record here: 0 peer-reviewed papers
This technology remains experimental and is not an established treatment. Access is limited to registered clinical studies.
- 30 Oct 2023US FDA — Breakthrough Device designation. A designation speeds interaction with the regulator. It is not a clearance or approval, and the indication is hypertension, not a BCI use.
Why this company matters
neuroloop belongs to bioelectronic medicine, the idea that a nerve can be dosed as precisely as a drug. Its relevance to this field is the electrode: a cuff that addresses some fibres in a nerve and not others is the peripheral counterpart of a high-density cortical array, and it comes from the same Freiburg microsystems group whose work runs through European neural-interface companies. The registry record is candid about how hard this is: a first study stopped for device changes, and a larger one whose results are years away.
Key milestones
22 May 2024
Multicentre study of safety and performance begins in Germany and the Netherlands; 120 participants planned.
30 Oct 2023
FDA Breakthrough Device designation for baroloop, according to the company.
13 Apr 2021
First-in-human study of baroloop begins in Utrecht. It is later terminated with four participants.
15 Mar 2016
Founding announced by Aesculap, a B. Braun company, with the University of Freiburg and its medical centre, around a thin-film cuff electrode with 28 channels.
Competitive context
ECoGFirst-in-human
CorTec
A fully implanted closed-loop system that both records from and stimulates the cortical surface.
ECoGFeasibility
ONWARD Medical
Spinal cord stimulation therapies, with a brain–spine interface in development.
DBSFirst-in-human
ReEmerge
Deep brain stimulation of the central thalamus, to restore cognitive function years after a traumatic brain injury.
Sources
- 01
neuroloop: company website (opens in a new tab)
Company reportedneuroloop GmbHChecked against source 5 Oct 2026
Describes baroloop as a neurostimulator with a thin-film multichannel electrode for selective vagus nerve stimulation in resistant hypertension, gives the date of the FDA Breakthrough designation, and states that the device is investigational and that its European conformity assessment is not complete.
- 02
Implant against High Blood Pressure (opens in a new tab)
Company reportedUniversity of Freiburg15 Mar 2016Checked against source 5 Oct 2026
Press release of a founding partner, so we treat it as the developers' own account. Describes the founding with Aesculap, the 28-channel cuff electrode and the researchers behind it. Its expectation of a market-ready product in 2021 was not met.
- 03
ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04981470: The Baroloop Study, first in human (opens in a new tab)
Clinical registryClinicalTrials.govChecked against source 5 Oct 2026
Sponsor neuroloop GmbH. Terminated with four participants at UMC Utrecht; the registry gives the reason as 'Device modifications needed'.
- 04
Clinical registryClinicalTrials.govChecked against source 5 Oct 2026
Sponsor neuroloop GmbH. Recruiting since 22 May 2024 at sites in Germany and the Netherlands; 120 participants planned.