New Delhi: US-based brain interface startup, Synchronousbacked by the founder of amazon Jeff Bezos and co-founder of Microsoft Bill Gatesis working on technology designed to transform the daily lives of people with paralysis. Synchron is part of an emerging crop of companies testing technology in the brain-computer interface industryreports CNBC.
The Synchron Switch is implanted through blood vessels and allows patients to operate the technology using only their minds. So far, the experimental technology has been tested on three patients in the US and four in Australia, according to the report.
“I’ve seen moments between patient and partner, or between patient and spouse, where it’s incredibly joyful and empowering to have regained the ability to be a little more independent than before. It helps them participate in ways we take for granted.” Synchron CEO Tom Oxley was quoted as saying.
Synchron, founded in 2012, is a member of the burgeoning brain-computer interface (BCI) industry, according to the report. A BCI system decodes brain signals and converts them into commands for external technologies. According to the report, Synchron BCI is inserted through blood vessels, which Oxley refers to as the “natural highways” to the brain.
stentrodea Synchron stent, is equipped with small sensors and is placed in a large vein near the motor cortex.
The Stentrode is connected to an antenna that is placed under the skin on the chest and collects raw brain data that it sends out of the body to external devices, the report added.
Synchron’s technology can help patients with severe paralysis or degenerative diseases such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) regain their ability to communicate with friends, family and the outside world, whether by typing, texting or even accessing social networks.
In December of last year, the company announced a round of financing of 75 million dollars, with the participation of the investment firms Gates and Bezos.
The US Food and Drug Administration granted the Synchron breakthrough device designation in August 2020, which is reserved for medical devices that have the potential to improve the treatment of debilitating or life-threatening conditions.
The company has yet to generate revenue and a spokesperson said Synchron will not comment on how much the procedure will ultimately cost, according to the report.
