On 6th July, doctors of New York’s Mount Sinai West medical centre became the first in the country to implant a BCI in a human patient. The procedure was led by clinical investigator Shahram Majidi (Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, USA).
The procedure involved threading of Strentode, a 1.5-inch-long implant made up of wires and electrodes, into a blood vessel in the brain of an ALS patient, hoping that the patient who has lost the ability to move and speak, will be able to surf the web and communicate via text by simply thinking. The device will translate the patient’s thoughts into commands and send them to the computer.
The operation went “extremely well”, and the patient returned home 48 hours later, according to Synchron, the startup behind the technology. Synchron has already implanted such devices in four patients in Australia. Even after a year of receiving implants, the patients are safe and sound. The startup procedure surpassed Elon Musk’s Neuralink and became USA’s first-ever FDA-approved human BCI implant.
About Synchron
Synchron is a New York-based next-gen bioelectronics medicine company. Founded in April 2016 by Thomas Oxley and Nicholas Opie, the company develops neuromodulation solutions for disorders of the nervous system previously deemed incurable. Stentrode is one of their leading devices.
How does Stentrode work?
Stentrode, designed and engineered by Nicholas Opie, is a miniaturised neural interface built with wires and electrodes. It is a one-of-its-kind invasive BCI device that doesn’t require skull surgery for implantation.
Similar to a stent placed in an artery, Stentrode is a long, thin, and flexible tube doctors can place in the cortex of the brain. It is inserted into a patient’s jugular vein by making a small cut on the neck and runs all the way to the blood vessel nestled in the motor cortex. Once placed, the device self-expands itself and builds an interface with the walls of the blood vessel. The other end of the Sternode is connected to a small computer device implanted into the patient’s chest cavity. The implanted computer device connects to a computer or smartphone via Bluetooth.
According to Shahram Majidi, who performed the brain implant surgery, the process is similar to implanting a stent and pacemaker and doesn’t take long.
What makes Synchron different from other BCI products in the market?
The beauty of the Synchron procedure is that it doesn’t show any visible signs of implantation and is gruesome-free. Unlike other BCI products, it doesn’t require a long surgical procedure of opening the patient’s skull. It is time-saving and can be done in any hospital setting. More importantly, it doesn’t damage brain cells or cause any inflammation.
According to Shahram Majidi, Synchron has more potential than any other BCI product. The only drawback is that the stentrode is placed inside the blood vessel, and its electrodes are not as close to neurons as other implants. Therefore, the signal coming through it is limited.
Synchron’s technology is still ongoing research. However, it has immense potential. “It can generate data and insights into brain functioning and could lead to many breakthroughs,” said Oxley, a physician with a doctorate in neuroscience.
All we can do is sit back and see its impact on the healthcare industry.
