Latest news with #braincomputerinterface
Gizmodo
2 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.
WIRED
3 days ago
- Health
- WIRED
A Neuralink Rival Just Tested a Brain Implant in a Person
Jun 2, 2025 8:00 AM Paradromics, a brain-computer interface startup, inserted its brain implant in a person—briefly—in an early test of its technology. On the right, a BCI (brain-computer interface) device is shown being held by a surgeon. Courtesy of the University of Michigan Brain-computer interface startup Paradromics today announced that surgeons successfully inserted the company's brain implant into a patient and safely removed it after about 10 minutes. It's a step toward longer trials of the device, dubbed Connexus. It's also the latest commercial development in a growing field of companies—including Elon Musk's Neuralink—aiming to connect people's brains directly to computers. With the Connexus, Austin-based Paradromics is looking to restore speech and communication in people with spinal cord injury, stroke, or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as ALS. The device is designed to translate neural signals into synthesized speech, text, and cursor control. Paradromics, which was founded in 2015, has been testing its implant in sheep for the past few years. This is the first time it has used the device in a human patient. The procedure took place on May 14 at the University of Michigan and was conducted in a person who was undergoing brain surgery to treat their epilepsy. The patient gave their consent for the Connexus device to be temporarily inserted into their temporal lobe, which processes auditory information and encodes memory. To implant the device, surgeons used an EpiPen-like instrument developed by Paradromics. Researchers were then able to verify that the device was able to record electrical signals from the patient's brain. 'There's a very unique opportunity when someone is undergoing a major neurosurgical procedure,' says Matt Angle, CEO of Paradromics. 'They're going to have their skull opened up, and there's going to be a piece of brain that will be imminently removed. Under these conditions, the marginal risk of testing out a brain implant is actually very low.' Paradromics' implant is smaller than the size of a dime and has 420 tiny protruding needles that are pushed into the brain tissue. These needles are electrodes that record from individual neurons. Similarly, Neuralink's implant also sits in the brain tissue. (By comparison, it has more than 1,000 electrodes distributed across 64 thin, flexible threads.) Other BCI companies are taking less invasive approaches. Precision Neuroscience, for instance, is testing an implant that rests on the surface of the brain, and Synchron has developed a device that goes in a blood vessel and rests against the brain. Both of these devices collect signals from groups of neurons, rather than individual ones. 'By having proximity to the individual neurons, you can get the highest quality signal,' Angle says. Getting a high-resolution signal from the brain is important for accurately decoding a person's intended speech. BCIs do not directly 'read' a person's private thoughts. Instead, they work by interpreting the neural signals associated with movement intention. A BCI like the one Paradromics is developing would, for instance, decode the facial movements involved in talking. A person with paralysis who cannot move their mouth can still attempt to make that movement, which produces unique neural signals in the brain. Those signals are then decoded into speech. In 2023, groups from Stanford University and UC San Francisco reported major advances in speech decoding using BCIs. In two women with paralysis, brain implants were able to decode intended speech at rates of 62 and 78 words per minute. For comparison, people speak at around 130 words per minute. Paradromics is hoping to achieve similar results. The company plans to launch a clinical trial by the end of the year in patients with paralysis. Those participants would have the device implanted long-term. 'Bringing a new medical device to the market is really tough, and especially with a fully implantable brain device like they are designing,' says Justin Sanchez, a neurotechnology researcher at Battelle, an Ohio-based nonprofit focusing on tech. 'When you're at that early stage in the regulatory process, you want to put it in a human brain, and you want to make sure that it receives the signals it should be receiving.' For the past 20 years, an implant called the Utah array was the mainstay of BCI research. Resembling a miniature hairbrush with 100 spikelike electrodes, it has allowed people with paralysis to control robotic arms, move a computer cursor with their thoughts, and produce synthesized speech. But that device requires a pedestal on top of the head to connect to outside devices. It can also degrade over time and damage brain tissue. Paradromics, Neuralink, and others are all trying to improve upon that early array with longer-lasting materials, less obtrusive designs, and more electrodes to capture more data. Matt Willsey, the University of Michigan neurosurgeon who led the procedure, says more electrodes could allow BCIs to have better performance and more functionality. Eventually, Angle says, the company plans to study the feasibility of implanting up to four of its devices in the brain, which would mean even more recording ability. But first, it has to establish that one Connexus device is safe in a longer study. That comes next. 'This is really just a test of getting everything to the operating room, figuring out the procedure for the implant, making sure it stays operational and making sure they can remove it,' says Jennifer Collinger, a BCI researcher at the University of Pittsburgh. 'It's a nice dress rehearsal.'
Globe and Mail
28-05-2025
- Business
- Globe and Mail
Elon Musk's Neuralink Raises $600M in a Recent Funding Round
Elon Musk's brain-implant company, Neuralink, has raised $600 million in a recent funding round, which pushed its pre-money valuation to $9 billion, according to Semafor. This latest round follows a $280 million Series D raise in 2023, which was led by Peter Thiel's Founders Fund. The company was previously valued at $5 billion based on private stock trades and had been rumored in April to be seeking around $500 million in new funding. Confident Investing Starts Here: Easily unpack a company's performance with TipRanks' new KPI Data for smart investment decisions Receive undervalued, market resilient stocks right to your inbox with TipRanks' Smart Value Newsletter Interestingly, Neuralink is developing a brain-computer interface that includes a rechargeable, skull-mounted wireless implant with electrode threads that connect directly to the brain. The device is designed to help people with neurological disorders, such as paralysis or ALS, to control computers and other devices using only their thoughts. Neuralink recently announced that its patient registry is now available globally and that the U.S. FDA has granted its device a 'breakthrough' designation. Indeed, the company made headlines earlier this year after its first human patient was able to use the implant to browse the internet, post on social media, play video games, and move a computer cursor with his mind. Elon Musk has said that the chip could one day help treat a wide range of conditions, such as obesity, autism, depression, and schizophrenia, and might even allow healthy individuals to use telepathy or surf the web directly with their brains. What Is the Prediction for Tesla Stock? When it comes to Elon Musk's companies, most of them are privately held. However, retail investors can invest in his most popular company, Tesla (TSLA). Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Hold consensus rating on TSLA stock based on 16 Buys, 10 Holds, and 11 Sells assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. Furthermore, the average TSLA price target of $282.70 per share implies 16.7% downside risk. See more TSLA analyst ratings Disclaimer & Disclosure Report an Issue
The Verge
23-05-2025
- Science
- The Verge
Valve CEO Gabe Newell's Neuralink competitor is expecting its first brain chip this year
Valve co-founder and CEO Gabe Newell, the company behind Half-Life and DOTA 2 and Counter-Strike and preeminent PC game distribution platform Steam, has long toyed with the idea that your brain should be more connected to your PC. It began over a decade ago with in-house psychologists studying people's biological responses to video games; Valve once considered earlobe monitors for its first VR headset. The company publicly explored the idea of brain-computer interfaces for gaming at GDC in 2019. But Newell decided to spin off the idea. That same year, he quietly incorporated a new brain-computer interface startup, Starfish Neuroscience — which has now revealed plans to produce its very first brain chip later this year. Starfish's first blog post, spotted by Valve watcher Brad Lynch, makes it clear we're not talking about a complete implant yet. This bit is the custom 'electrophysiology' chip designed to record brain activity (like how Neuralink can 'read your mind' so patients can interact with computers) and stimulate the brain (for disease therapy), but Starfish isn't claiming it's already built the systems to power it or the bits to stick it into a person's head. 'We anticipate our first chips arriving in late 2025 and we are interested in finding collaborators for whom such a chip would open new and exciting avenues,' writes Starfish neuroengineer Nate Cermak (bolding theirs), suggesting that Starfish might wind up partnering with other companies for wireless power or even the final brain implant. But the goal, writes Starfish, is a smaller and less invasive implant than the competition, one that can 'enable simultaneous access to multiple brain regions' instead of just one site, and one that doesn't require a battery. Using just 1.1 milliwatts during 'normal recording,' Starfish says it can work with wireless power transmission instead. Here's the chip's current spec sheet: Neuralink's N1, for comparison, has 1,024 electrodes across its 64 brain-implanted threads, a chip that consumed around 6 milliwatts as of 2019, a battery that periodically needs wireless charging, and the full implant (again, not just the chip) is around 23mm wide and 8mm thick. Starfish says it could be important to connect to multiple parts of the brain simultaneously to address issues like Parkinson's disease. 'there is increasing evidence that a number of neurological disorders involve circuit-level dysfunction, in which the interactions between brain regions may be misregulated,' Cermak writes. In addition to multiple simultaneous brain implants, the company's updated website says it's working on a 'precision hyperthermia device' to destroy tumors with targeted heat, and a brain-reading, robotically guided transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) system for addressing neurological conditions like bipolar disorder and depression. In case you're wondering how any of this might make its way back to gaming, I'll leave you with Valve's talk from GDC 2019 about brain-computer interfaces.
Wall Street Journal
17-05-2025
- Health
- Wall Street Journal
Coming to a Brain Near You: A Tiny Computer
A high-stakes technology race is playing out in the human brain. Brain-computer interfaces are already letting people with paralysis control computers and communicate their needs, and will soon enable them to manipulate prosthetic limbs without moving a muscle. The year ahead is pivotal for the companies behind this technology. Fewer than 100 people to date have had brain-computer interfaces permanently installed. In the next 12 months, that number will more than double, provided the companies with new FDA experimental-use approval meet their goals in clinical trials. Apple this week announced its intention to allow these implants to control iPhones and other products. There are dozens of so-called 'neurotech' startups. Four lead the field of implants: Paradromics, Synchron, Precision Neuroscience and Elon Musk's Neuralink, which in some ways is the most ambitious of the four. All but Paradromics have reached the point at which they are putting tech inside people's heads. Each has its own approach, and all offer reasons they believe their product will come out ahead. All four are betting they'll eventually become a standard part of care for tens of thousands, perhaps even millions, of us. The prize they're after: Morgan Stanley projects a $1 billion-a-year brain-computer implant market by 2041. Other than perhaps the quest for human-level artificial intelligence, or colonization of other planets—not coincidentally two other areas where Musk is a big proponent—few fields exhibit such a wide gulf between a technology's potential and its near-term prospects. 'There is a vision that this is going to be a mass-consumer thing, which is a vision that you can sell,' says Dr. Iahn Cajigas, a neurosurgeon at the University of Pennsylvania who has done pioneering research on brain implants, and has installed them in a handful of patients. 'As a clinician, I find that kind of a dangerous way to talk.' These are medical products, he emphasizes, with all the risks that attend brain surgery, including infection. 'To take the risk of a brain implant, if you're a young person with no medical problems, because you're at the mall and you want a better interface with your phone, I don't know how reasonable that is in the current world we live in,' Cajigas added. For the leading companies in the brain-computer interface market, it's generally accepted that the more bandwidth required, the more invasive the implant must be. Future breakthroughs in signal processing aside, implants have to go deeper into our brain tissue to get the best performance. Unknowns about safety, performance and cost are why the trials that happen in the coming year could make or break these four contenders. Synchron, the first to collaborate with Apple, is among the least invasive. Its implant, a tubular mesh of electrodes, is run through a major blood vessel in the brain, like a stent. It can be installed without opening the patient's skull, so more physicians could be trained to perform the operation, says Kurt Haggstrom, the company's chief commercial officer. The downside: The brain-activity readings from the electrodes tend to be less precise. In the Apple scenario, patients must wear Apple's Vision Pro goggles for now. They move a cursor via eye tracking, not mind control, then 'click' an item by thinking about a large movement of one of their limbs. By the end of 2025, Synchron is to begin final FDA trials of its implantable brain-computer interface. Those trials will take about two years, says Haggstrom. Precision Neuroscience aims to put a small, flat array of electrodes onto the surface of people's brains. While the current system is wired, Precision is developing one that is completely wireless, where nothing protrudes through skin and it communicates and recharges wirelessly. With 1,024 electrodes spread across 1.5 square centimeters, the system can potentially do more than Synchron's. For example, it might be able to translate thought to speech. A key challenge: Neuralink and others benefit from decades of deep-brain recordings in primates. Precision records neural activity differently, and researchers are only beginning to map the signals, says Cajigas, who has tested it in 11 patients so far. (He's not a paid Precision collaborator.) 'In the next year, I think this could be a viable solution for patients who are amputees to control a robotic hand,' he adds. With its new FDA permissions, Precision can install its system in a person's head for up to 30 days. The company will be putting its devices in somewhere between dozens and a hundred patients in the next 12 months, says CEO Michael Mager. If those trials are successful, the company will test more permanent implants. Paradromics' brain-computer interface looks like a coin with Velcro on one side, with 421 tiny electrodes that push 1.5 millimeters into the brain. Installing several of these electrode arrays could allow for an especially fast connection, like the difference between a bad Wi-Fi signal and a great one. It can record from individual neurons, like Neuralink's system, says Chief Executive Matt Angle. The company's electrodes are so small, they could in theory go unnoticed by the patient's brain, preventing the kind of scarring and other issues that bedeviled early systems in university labs, he adds. The company hasn't installed one in a human yet, but two have been inside the brains of sheep for three years, and both maintained a strong connection to the brain throughout that time. Paradromics is part of an FDA program designed to accelerate the approval of breakthrough medical devices, and plans to start its first clinical trial in humans later this year. Neuralink has implanted devices in three patients, Musk, its founder, has said. The second patient has shown off capabilities previously demonstrated only in research labs, where wires went deep into participants' brains and ran directly to external computers. With electrodes implanted seven millimeters into the brain, that Neuralink patient could design software, play videogames and more. This kind of implant comes with potential trade-offs, says Cajigas. There's the question of whether, over time, the brain will respond to these electrodes in ways that make them unusable. And then there's the matter of upgradeability: Once you've put electrodes deep into your cortex, it's not clear how easily you'll be able to take them out and put in a new model. Neuralink didn't respond to requests for comment. Getting a brain implant might one day become as routine as, say, getting a cochlear implant, which by 2022 had reached a million hearing-impaired patients. If so, the ability to directly interface with our brains could be one of the most transformative medical, and potentially consumer, technologies in history. Experts I interviewed described various potential uses for brain-computer interfaces: figuring out which medication works best for our particular brain chemistry; using just thoughts to control vehicles, limbs and exoskeletons; and generating speech directly from thought. Getting there requires vaulting over one other hurdle that has nothing to do with science: These startups have to become real businesses, says Justin Sanchez, former head of brain-implant research at the Pentagon's R&D arm, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. It's possible one could one day become a medical-device giant in its own right. But most of these companies are likely to run out of money or get acquired by big medical-technology companies, first. Whatever happens, brain-computer interfaces have advanced far enough that experts agree they can already give doctors new ways to improve patients' lives, and are likely to show up in many more of our heads in the future. Write to Christopher Mims at
