Source published October 22, 2026: institutional announcement from NUS Medicine and National University Hospital.
A small feasibility signal The announcement describes an initial personalized intermittent theta-burst stimulation project for severe obsessive-compulsive disorder. Four people enrolled between January and July 2026, two withdrew before completing treatment, and two completed 40 short sessions over five days. Individual functional MRI maps were used to choose a stimulation target.
One completer's Obsessive-Compulsive Inventory-Revised score fell by 78 percent at the end of treatment and remained at zero six weeks later. The other recorded a 35 percent reduction at four weeks, relapsed around 12 weeks and improved again after a five-day booster course. These are two individual trajectories, not an efficacy estimate.
The next study The team says a new study began in October 2026 for 30 people with depression and anxiety and is planned to run through early 2029. It will compare two personalized targets and use repeated imaging over a longer follow-up. The work can help test whether individualized target selection produces a reproducible signal in a larger group.
The important boundaries The four-person OCD project was a feasibility effort reported in an institutional release, not a peer-reviewed randomized trial. Only two people completed the protocol, there was no sham or other control group, and the announcement does not provide complete adverse-event or standardized masking detail. Symptoms can change for many reasons, so these outcomes cannot establish that imaging guidance or stimulation caused the improvements. The new 30-person project is underway and has no reported results.
Funding and commercial context The announcement says the OCD work was supported by a National University Hospital Clinician Scientist Programme grant and the Centre for Translational Magnetic Resonance Research. The new study is funded by Singapore's National Research Foundation. It also states that the imaging-analysis technology was commercialized through B1Neuro and identifies Ru Kong, Thomas Yeo and Tor Phern Chern in company scientific or clinical-adviser roles.
Why it matters Personalized targeting asks a practical question for brain-stimulation research: can treatment location be selected from an individual's network map rather than a common anatomical landmark? The Singapore program moves that question from a very small feasibility effort into a larger longitudinal study. Its value will depend on transparent protocol reporting, retention, safety, controlled comparisons and peer-reviewed results.
Disclosure This is coverage of an institutional research announcement, not a treatment recommendation or evidence of established efficacy. Prepared with AI assistance; the NUS Medicine page and linked media release were checked October 26, 2026. The image is an AI-generated conceptual metaphor. It is not a brain map, medical device, research figure, measured data or treatment outcome.