Synchron might be ahead, but it’s still in an exploratory phase. A “pivotal” study, the kind used to persuade regulators to allow sales of a specific version of the device, has yet to be scheduled. So there’s no timeline for a product.
Neuralink, meanwhile, has disclosed that three volunteers have received its implant, the N1, which consists of multiple fine electrode threads inserted directly into the brain through a hole drilled in the skull.
More electrodes mean more neural activity is captured. Neuralink’s first volunteer, Noland Arbaugh, has shown off how he can guide a cursor around a screen in two dimensions and click, letting him play video games like Civilization or online chess.
Finally, Neuracle says it is running two trials in China and one in the US. Its implant consists of a patch of electrodes placed on top of the brain. In a report, the company said a paralyzed volunteer is using the system to stimulate electrodes in his arm, causing his hand to close in a grasp.
But details remain sparse. A Neuracle executive would only say that “several” people had received its implant.
Because Neuracle’s patient count isn’t public, it wasn’t included in Patrick-Krueger’s tally. In fact, there’s no information at all in the medical literature on about a quarter of brain-implant volunteers so far, so she counted them using press releases or by e-mailing research teams.
Her BCI survey yielded other insights. According to her data, implants have lasted as long as 15 years, more than half of patients are in the US, and roughly 75% of BCI recipients have been male.
The data can’t answer the big question, though. And that is whether implanted BCIs will progress from breakthrough demonstrations into breakout products, the kind that help many people.
“In the next five to 10 years, it’s either going to translate into a product or it’ll still stay in research,” Patrick-Krueger says. “I do feel very confident there will be a breakout.”