Latest news with #MatthewWillsey
Indian Express
3 days ago
- Health
- Indian Express
Neuralink competitor Paradromics successfully completes first brain implant in human
Neurotech startup Paradromics has completed its first brain implant after nearly three years of preclinical studies. The company, which is developing a brain-computer interface (BCI) platform, successfully inserted its brain implant into a patient and safely removed it after about 10 minutes. The successful insertion of the company's brain-computer interface, dubbed Connexus, was led by Dr. Matthew Willsey of the University of Michigan, alongside Dr. Oren Sagher and a multidisciplinary team of clinicians and engineers, on May 14. It's a major milestone for the brain-computer interface startup, which is only a decade old. Paradromics was founded in 2015 by CEO Matt Angle, who believes that his company is on a mission to transform untreatable brain health conditions into solvable technology problems. Austin-based Paradromics is aiming to restore speech and communication in people with spinal cord injuries, strokes, or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). The device was implanted during epilepsy resection surgery—when the area of the brain causing seizures is disconnected or removed—to study how epilepsy influences brain signaling. The device is designed to translate neural signals into synthesized speech, text, and cursor control. Paradromics has been testing its implant in sheep for the past few years. This is the first time the company has used the device in a human patient. The compant expects the devices will retail for $100,000. A brain-computer interface (BCI) is a system that provides a direct communication pathway between the brain and an external device. The term 'brain-computer interface' was coined in 1973 by Jacques Vidal, a computer scientist at the University of California, Los Angeles, who proposed that electrical signals in the brain might one day be used to control prosthetic devices. Since then, researchers have been studying BCIs, continuously improving and designing systems that connect neurons to the digital world. In 2003, a team at Duke University demonstrated that monkeys implanted with microelectrode arrays could consciously control robotic arms. A year later, a young athlete named Matt Nagle became the first paralyzed person to benefit from BCI technology. Using a BCI, he was able to control a computer cursor and move a prosthetic hand. Paradromics' successful trial implant of its brain-computer interface in a human for the first time sends positive signals, as the race to lead the brain-computer interface space heats up. It's a sign that Paradromics is moving closer to the commercial development of its BCI system. Elon Musk's Neuralink, perhaps the most well-known name in the field, is also working to connect human brains directly to computers. As of April, three patients have received Neuralink's brain implant. Once regulators give the go-ahead, Paradromics plans to launch a clinical trial later this year to study the long-term safety and effectiveness of its technology in humans. Last year, Paradromics CEO told CNBC that the company expects to receive commercial approval to sell the product before the end of the decade.
Gizmodo
3 days ago
- Health
- Gizmodo
Patient Receives Brain Implant That Can Wirelessly Control Computers
The future of brain-computer interface (BCI) technology is looking bright. Scientists have just reported the first in-human recording from a novel wireless BCI device that could possibly help people with stroke communicate independently again. Researchers at the University of Michigan performed the feat on May 14, using the Connexus BCI device developed by the company Paradromics. The device was temporarily implanted into the brain of a person living with epilepsy. Paradromics is now planning to conduct clinical trials of the device later this year. The U-M research team, led by neurosurgeon Matthew Willsey, is working on a project to better understand how epilepsy affects the brain's signaling. They partnered with Paradromics, one of several companies vying to pioneer the next generation of BCI technology (a list that also includes Elon Musk's Neuralink), to use its experimental Connexus device. According to Willsey, the device offers several advantages over existing BCI systems. For instance, it's tiny (no smaller than a dime) yet contains over 400 microelectrodes that act as sensors, allowing the researchers to capture plenty of information from the brain. For context, the team has previously worked with BCI devices only outfitted with around 100 sensors. The Connexus is designed to send this information to a transceiver implanted in the chest, but unlike most existing BCI implants, it would also allow users to operate compatible computer devices without physical attachments. This also means that the device should be fully implantable, ideally providing its users more freedom. 'I'm excited that the system itself has the potential to be a high-capacity recording system that could one day expand the functionality of present-day BCIs,' Willsey told Gizmodo. 'Furthermore, the system implanted in the body communicates wirelessly with the system outside the body so that there are no wires that run through the skin.' The team implanted the Connexus in a volunteer already set to receive a temporal lobectomy, a surgery that removes parts of the brain causing chronic seizures. It was then safely removed fully intact less than 20 minutes later, though not before it had recorded signals from the patient's brain. The researchers are still analyzing this data, but they're certainly optimistic about the device's future. 'This could lead to its eventual use as a high-performance BCI and could also lead to downstream clinical trials,' Willsey said. Paradromics announced in March that the first of these trials is expected to occur in late 2025, provided they receive the go-ahead from regulators. The company plans to initially test whether the Connexus can restore communication through digital devices in people with speech impairment caused by amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, stroke, or severe spinal cord injuries. They're hoping that the device can have applications for mental health or chronic pain as well. The U-M team is also working with other BCI devices that look to go beyond the limitations of current technology. In January, for instance, they published research showing how their high-performance BCI device allowed a paralyzed man to fly a virtual drone with only his thoughts, and with much greater accuracy than other, non-invasive systems. With any luck, these devices, while still experimental, will someday provide many people a new lease on life.
Bloomberg
4 days ago
- Health
- Bloomberg
Neuralink Rival Paradromics Tests Brain Implant in First Human
Takeaways NEW Paradromics Inc., a brain implant company and rival to Elon Musk's Neuralink, tested its device in its first human patient last month. Neurosurgeon Matthew Willsey put a chip smaller than a penny on the patient's brain while the person was undergoing surgery for epilepsy and left it there for 10 to 15 minutes. Needles half the diameter of a human hair poked into the brain tissue, aiming to pick up electrical signals from individual neurons.
