
Brain Health as Mainstream as an Eye Test with Lucas Scherdel, Connectome Health
Send us a Message What if diagnosing depression was as simple as a 15-minute brain scan, no questionnaires, no guesswork, just objective data?That's exactly what Lucas Scherdel and his team at Connectome Health are building.In this episode, Lucas breaks down how their TD-fNIRS technology reads brain activity non-invasively using near-infrared light, how AI turns that raw signal into stable biomarkers, and why the absence of any objective brain test for mental health conditions is one of the most under-discussed problems in medicine today.We also get into the regulatory and investor catch-22 that slows MedTech innovationand Lucas's vision for a world where brain health checks are as routine as visiting the optician.If you work in MedTech, digital health, neuroscience, or you're just curious about where mental healthcare is headed, this one is worth your time.Timestamp:00:00 – Opening hook: Lucas's vision for mainstream brain sensing 01:33 – Rod's intro and welcome 02:29 – What is Connectome Health?02:58 – Lucas's background: biomedical sciences, Bayer, WHO 06:48 – How Lucas ended up founding Connectome 10:34 – What does "Connectome" mean? 11:00 – TD-fNIRS explained in layman's terms 12:50 – Why scalable brain measurement has been so hard 16:14 – What does the hardware actually look like? 17:38 – Brain-computer interfaces and the future of prosthetics 19:08 – Challenges: regulatory, manufacturing, scaling 19:37 – Connectome as a software company (platform dependency risk) 22:24 – The inference application layer 23:20 – Business model explained: B2B research tools → future B2C 24:48 – Regulatory landscape and reception from the scientific community 25:17 – Imperial College London healthy population study 26:16 – The investor-regulator catch-22 in MedTech 27:44 – First product: functional brain performance testing 29:34 – Where is mental health tracking headed in 10–15 years? 31:57 – Wrap-up and how to find Lucas (connectome.health / LinkedIn)Support the showFollow or Connect with Rodney Moses:Instagram | LinkedIn | YouTube | Donations Patreon | PayPal






