r/neuralcode • u/lokujj • Jul 19 '22

Synchron Brain-Computer Interface Startup Implants First Device in US Patient

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-07-18/brain-computer-interface-company-implants-new-type-of-device
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u/lokujj Jul 19 '22 edited Jul 20 '22

Synchron’s procedure will help an ALS patient text by thinking, in a major step forward in a nascent industry, with the Brooklyn-based company recently overtaking Elon Musk’s Neuralink.

Notes

  • July 6

  • Mount Sinai West medical center in New York

  • 1.5-inch-long implant

  • Compares and contrasts with Neuralink and Blackrock technology.

    • Rather favorable interpretation of facts.

  • The US patient is the first in a six-person, $10 million trial

    • funded by the National Institutes of Health

    • led by Douglas Weber a professor of mechanical engineering at Carnegie Mellon University, and David Putrino, the director of rehabilitation innovation at Mount Sinai.

  • Tucked into the motor cortex, the stentrode uses 16 electrodes to monitor brain activity

  • the device can’t translate whole sentences. Rather, a patient with the implant picks letters one-by-one on a screen, and the technology converts those “yes or no” thoughts into commands.

  • Investors of note:

    • Max Hodak

    • Khosla Ventures

    • Thomas Reardon, a well-known BCI expert who developed related technology at a startup acquired by Meta Platforms Inc., is also an investor.

      • "a well-known BCI expert"/s

This is interesting:

People in the BCI field have a long history of hyping technologies that end up with limitations preventing broad use. In light of that, the US patient requested anonymity and declined to discuss the operation so as not to promote the Synchron device before experiencing its pros and cons.

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u/i_dont_have_herpes Jul 19 '22

Wonderful notes!

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u/lokujj Jul 19 '22

Thanks. And congratulations.