A renowned company best known for its brain implants has made headway towards more applications for its latest design, with Synchron announcing its milestones for the Stentrode device. The company shared "positive results" with the Stentrode brain implants which can now add Amazon Alexa smart home devices and Apple's Vision Pro headset to its list of tech it can control.
Several brain implants in the neuroscience industry have specific devices it can control, and most are not under consumer technologies, setting Synchron's latest development apart.
Synchron Achieves Milestone by Controlling Amazon, Apple Tech
Synchron proudly shared its latest success in a study featuring its Stentrode brain-computer interface, tested among six participants that the company monitored for over 12 months. The company shared 'positive results' with its tests, presenting it to the 2024 Congress of Neurological Surgeons, focusing on the COMMAND study held in the Mount Sinai Health System, UB Neurosurvey/Gates Vascular Institute, and UPMC.
The most significant finding was successfully integrating the capabilities to control Amazon Alexa-powered devices and the Apple Vision Pro mixed-reality headset using the Stentrode implant.
According to Synchron, all six patients did not see any complications or adverse problems like blood clots or strokes, with the Stentrode being implanted in the motor cortex of the brain via an endovascular surgery.
Read Also: Scientists Use AI Brain Implant to Help Stroke Survivor Communicate in English, Spanish
Access Consumer, Smart Home Tech with Stentrode Implant
Using only brain signals, patients can now control such devices using only their thoughts to perform certain functions and have the device respond to what they want to happen.
Synchron claimed that the patients "were able to generate Digital Motor Outputs (DMOs)" through the Stentrode BCI.
With this success, Synchon is looking to take its experiments to the next level by adding more participants in a larger study. CEO Tom Oxley claims that their future study would focus more on 'gathering brain data to improve the BCI.
Are Brain-Computer Interfaces the Future of Technology?
Different companies have already begun their developments and clinical trials of their brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) which need to be implanted on human test subjects, centering mostly on paraplegic patients. One of the most famous companies behind this is Elon Musk's Neuralink, and their first patient, Noland Arbaugh, testified how the implant can help in controlling technology, and in his case, gaming.
These devices have been called multiple names since they rose to popularity, from brain chips to implants, and BCIs—with all of them looking to achieve significant experiences like returning mobility and daily functions. Another company called Precision Neuroscience, from Neuralink co-founder Dr. Ben Rapoport aims to deliver a safer administration of its implant.
Neuroscience companies all aspire to deliver a new kind of experience for patients who lost mobility or are no longer capable of performing daily functions to get a new purpose in life with their implants. Companies like Neuralink are aiming to offer this even for the average person to use, offering an experience that can connect technology and one's brain for daily use.
Related Article: Neuralink Achieves Major Milestone: Second Brain Implant Successful, Elon Musk Says
