What is 'Synchron', a startup that inserts brain implants from blood vessels and allows disabled people to use cursors and devices?

Brain computer interface (BCI) research is being conducted day and night to read electrical signals of the brain from implants embedded in the brain and allow you to operate PCs and smartphones without moving the body, and for practical use of BCI Startups are also emerging. BCI development startup ' Synchron ' was the first in the United States to be approved for clinical trials of BCI, and seven patients have already undergone implant surgery.

Synchron backed by Bezos and Gates tests brain-computer interface
https://www.cnbc.com/2023/02/18/synchron-backed-by-bezos-and-gates-tests-brain-computer-interface.html

Synchron is a company founded in 2012, a startup that develops BCI that decodes brain signals and converts them to be readable by computers. In the same industry, Neuralink, founded by CEO Elon Musk of Tesla and SpaceX, is famous.

Elon Mask announces details of ``Neuralink'' that embeds electrodes in the brain and directly operates smartphones - GIGAZINE

In December 2022, Synchlon will be funded by Bill Gates' investment firm Gates Frontier, Jeff Bezos' investment firm Bezos Expeditions, as well as other companies such as ARCH Venture Partners and Reliance Digital Health Limited. We are raising funds of dollars (about 1 billion yen).

Synchron is being implanted in the brain to stimulate the nervous system from within the blood vessels and is researching a BCI that aims to restore functional independence to paraplegic patients. In August 2020, we received an exemption from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as an investigational medical device, and became the first company in the United States to conduct a clinical trial of a permanently implanted BCI.

A major feature of Synchron's BCI is that it is much less invasive than traditional brain surgery. Until now, implanting a chip in the brain required an incision in the skull, which required a full day of major surgery. Such surgery was a heavy burden on the patient and a high risk, but Sychron's BCI spreads like a stent inside the blood vessel and collects brain data when a catheter is inserted from the artery in the neck.

According to Peter Yu, Sychron's senior director of neuroscience, Synchron's device is not inserted directly into the brain tissue, so the quality of the brain signal is not as good as the type that inserts directly. However, it is less invasive and more expandable than implanting a foreign body directly into the brain.

In January 2023, long-term safety results from a clinical trial in Australia will be published, revealing that 'Synchron's BCI did not degrade signal quality or performance over a 12-month period.' I was.

Synchron's BCI was first implanted in a human patient in July 2022. This patient has amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and is unable to move, eat or speak. However, Synchron's BCI is expected to allow you to operate your PC without moving your body.

In fact, this Synchron BCI-implanted patient successfully posted a short tweet on the Twitter account of Synchron CEO Tom Oxley.

hello, world! Short tweet. Monumental progress.

— Thomas Oxley (@tomoxl) December 23, 2021

``It's incredibly lonely when you can't send text messages,'' Oxley said. Restoring the ability to text messages to loved ones means restoring emotional power. .