As the race to become the leader in the nascent brain-computer interface (BCI) field heats up, neurotech startup Paradromics will trial its brain implant next year.
“The brain is a super fascinating organ. We have about 85 billion neurons, each of which is a million times slower than a computer chip. Yet the brain is capable of incredible things,” said Paradromics CEO CEO and founder Matt Angle said in a report.
“What this means is that if you want data to flow in and out of the brain, you have to be able to talk to a lot of different neurons at the same time. That’s the whole point of building these high-speed, high-data-rate devices,” he added.
The trial will follow rival Neuralink, which implanted chips into patients’ brains in March. The company, co-founded by Elon Musk, later revealed that part of its brain implant malfunctioned within weeks of the surgery.
Paradromics was founded in 2015 and has raised $87 million in venture capital and $18 million in public funding to date. The Austin, Texas-based startup expects each device to retail for about $100,000.
“Paradromics’ mission is to transform untreatable health conditions in brain health into solvable technology problems. We are fundamentally building a medical device to address an unmet need,” Angle said.
While Angle anticipates the device will be able to treat a variety of conditions, Paradromics will first focus on patients who have lost the ability to communicate, whether due to paralysis, ALS or spinal cord injuries.
“The reason we chose to focus on movement and speech is because these are widely used in our research community and the science is there,” said Vikash Gilja, chief scientific officer at Paradromics.
“Paradromics can leverage science and apply the right engineering techniques to move us from research to medical devices,” he added.
Gilja told CNBC that the device will be wirelessly powered and will not require charging.
“One of the things you have to do as a user is learn the mapping from electrical signals to intent through a brief calibration procedure. But once you learn that mapping, you can use the system,” Girja said.
Angle hopes Paradromics will receive commercial approval to sell the product as soon as possible, but no sooner than 2029.
“We’re seeing the first people who have access to brain-computer interfaces that will be able to treat serious diseases,” Angell said.
“I think there may be a different conversation 20 years from now, and some of these devices may have consumer applications as well. But at the same time, we’re really focused on building safe, reliable, powerful devices for people with physical and mental conditions.”
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