Latest news with #neuralsignals
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.'
Gizmodo
13-05-2025
- Business
- Gizmodo
Apple Is Developing a Brain-Computer Interface
The Cupertino giant is partnering with a Jeff Bezos-backed interface company. Apple is in the early stages of developing brain-computer interfaces that would allow people, especially those with mobility issues, to control their iPhones, iPads, and Vision Pro headsets with neural signals captured by a new kind of brain implant. According to the Wall Street Journal, Apple is partnering with Synchron—a privately held, New York City-based company backed by Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates—on the in project. The brain-computer interface, or BCI, industry is projected to grow significantly over the coming decades. Perhaps the best-known player in the space is Elon Musk's Neuralink, which, as of January, has successfully implanted its devices in three people. Historically, most users have relied on both mechanical (through the use of a keyboard or mouse) and behavioral (through the use of touchscreens or voice) interaction with their computers. BCIs eliminate the need for physical movement, expanding device accessibility for people with profound physical impairments. Unlike Neuralink's N1 implant, Synchron's stent-like device, called the Stentrode, is implanted on top of the brain, not inside of it, which allows users to avoid an invasive open brain implant procedure. Once placed, the Stentrode works by using its electrodes to read brain signals and translate them into on-screen navigation and icon selection. Synchron's device works with switch control, a pre-existing accessibility feature in Apple's operating system that allows users to remotely control their Mac with an external adaptive device like a joystick or switch (or now, the Stentrode). Since 2019, Synchron has implanted the Stentrode in 10 people. The Journal visited Mark Jackson, a Pittsburgh resident who cannot travel outside his home due to ALS. Jackson tested the Stentrode with an Apple Vision Pro. With the headset on, he was transported to Switzerland, where he peered over the ledge of an alpine peak and felt his legs shake. Jackson noted that because he can't use the Stentrode to mimic moving a cursor with a mouse or a touchscreen with his fingers, navigation using the Stentrode is much slower than typical interaction with a computer or smartphone. It's also slower than using a computer with Neuralink's N1, which is able to capture much more brain data than Synchron's device, which uses many more electrodes than the Stentrode. These latest developments in BCI technology come in anticipation of full FDA approval for the implants, which, the Journal notes, is not expected for several more years. In a press release, Dr. Tom Oxley, the CEO and co-founder of Synchron, praised Apple, saying that the company is 'helping to pioneer a new interface paradigm, where brain signals are formally recognized alongside touch, voice, and typing. With BCI recognized as a native input for Apple devices, there are new possibilities for people living with paralysis and beyond.'
Wall Street Journal
13-05-2025
- Business
- Wall Street Journal
Apple Wants People to Control Devices With Their Thoughts
Apple AAPL 6.31%increase; green up pointing triangle is embracing the world of brain computer interfaces, unveiling a new technology that one day could revolutionize how humans interact with their devices. The company is taking early steps to enable people to control their iPhones with neural signals captured by a new generation of brain implants. It could make Apple devices more accessible to tens of thousands of people who can't use their hands because of severe spinal cord injuries or diseases such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS.
