Imagine texting or shopping, using only the power of your thoughts. What used to seem like science fiction may become reality in a few years.
This is brain-computer interface (BCI) tech. It holds massive implications for restoring communication and mobility for paralyzed patients. Generally, it entails surgically implanting a sensor into the brain that measures electrical activity and wirelessly transmits data to a neuroprosthetic. However, BCI’s invasiveness has held it back for years.
📣Enter Synchron, the world’s first BCI that won’t require open brain surgery. Here’s how they’re making history:
🧠2011: Pitching overseas
Founder/CEO Dr. Thomas Oxley, a neuroscience resident at the Royal Melbourne Hospital, cold-pitched to DARPA (part of the US DoD) a brain-machine interface concept. He was offered a $1M grant by their prosthetic limb program.
While assembling a local team, he met Synchron’s CTO, Dr. Nicholas Opie, a PhD student at the University of Melbourne in bionic engineering.
🧠2012-2016: Iterating the perfect prototype
There were several technical needs:
A strong and clear signal, even when the device is fully absorbed.
A biocompatible device, so the immune system wouldn’t form scar tissue around the signal.
The device could not interfere with the brain’s normal blood flow.
Hundreds of designs later, they revealed the Stentrode, a basket-like cylindrical sensor lined with electrodes and inserted into the jugular vein with a catheter. (As this is a common cardiology procedure, this method is widely available). The catheter is fed up into the brain’s motor cortex, which allows the Strentrode to detect changes in electrical frequency in the region of the brain that initiates movement.
A wireless transmitter, the BrainPort, is inserted into the chest. It feeds brain data into a brainOS app which uses algorithms to output keystrokes/clicks onto a digital device.
For scientific rigor, they published preclinical findings into top scientific journals (Nature Biotechnology) and constructed a massive 70+ patent IP moat.
🧠2017 – present: Accelerating the pathway to approval
The minimally invasive Stentrode made Synchron more appealing to the FDA than its competitors. They achieved Breakthrough Device designation in 2020 and Investigational Device exemption in 2021 to test safety.
They also implemented clinical feasibility studies in Australia and the US, which were the first-ever BCIs to be implanted in humans. Notably, the procedure took only 2 hrs.
🧠2021 & beyond: Bringing a scalable BCI to market
Although they’re testing PMF now with paralysis, they aim to expand to milder neurological conditions. As the Stentrode is inserted via blood vessels, it can reach all regions of the brain.
They’re also building out prosthetics and therapy to scale as an end-to-end platform, which expands their market value beyond brain data collection.
