In summary
- A 64-year-old man paralyzed by ALS has been able to communicate through his thoughts with smart devices using a new type of brain implant that avoids potentially risky brain surgery.
- The man, identified as “Mark,” was able to control Amazon Alexa-enabled devices and answer video calls using his mind with Synchron’s brain-computer interface.
- Synchron’s device is less invasive and is implanted in the blood vessel on the surface of the brain’s motor cortex, wirelessly sensing and transmitting motor intent out of the brain.
A 64-year-old man paralyzed by ALS has been able to communicate through his thoughts with his smart devices using a new type of brain implant that avoids potentially risky brain surgery.
The man, identified only as “Mark” in a YouTube video posted Monday by Synchron, a New York-based company that makes the brain-computer interface, was apparently able to control a variety of Amazon Alexa-enabled devices, even taking video calls, using his mind. In an earlier demonstration, Mark used Synchron’s brain-computer interface to interact with an Apple Vision Pro.
For now, the device is only available to participants in Synchron’s clinical trial, a company spokesperson told Decrypt. The spokesperson noted that information from the study would be available to the public by the end of the month. “After that, we will need to conduct a crucial study before submitting to the FDA for approval,” the spokesperson stated. “We have not given specific guidance on the exact timing of when the device will be available.”
Synchron’s new device “is bridging the gap between neurotechnology and consumer technology, making it possible for people with paralysis to regain control of their environment,” Synchron founder and CEO Tom Oxley said in a statement. “While many smart home systems rely on voice or touch, we are sending control signals directly from the brain, bypassing the need for these inputs.”
Launched in 2016, Synchron is one of a growing number of neurotech companies testing their technology on human subjects. These companies include Blackrock Neurotech, Prophetic, Northwell Health’s Feinstein Institutes and Elon Musk’s Neuralink.
In January, Neuralink implanted its device in the brain of Noland Arbaugh, an Arizona man who lost the use of his limbs after an accident. A second patient was implanted with Neuralink’s chip in August.
However, in May, concerns about Neuralink’s use of brain surgery led Dr. Benjamin Rapoport, a neuroscientist who co-founded Neuralink, to leave the company. “Those[electrodes]have the disadvantage of causing a certain amount of brain damage when they are inserted into the brain,” Rapoport told the Wall Street Journal at the time.
Unlike Neuralink, which requires brain surgery to implant its device, Synchron said its brain interface device is less invasive and is implanted in the blood vessel on the surface of the brain’s motor cortex. The “Stentrode is inserted through the vein and threaded up to a blood vessel above the brain’s motor cortex,” the Synchron spokesperson said.
Once implanted, it is designed to wirelessly detect and transmit motor intention outside the brain.
Signals from the Stentrode Synchron are sent to an “Implanted Receiver Transmitter” device worn by the user. These signals are then sent to a processing device, which interprets and retransmits the signal to the user’s device they wish to control.
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