Brain Implant Cleared by America's FDA to Help Paralysis Patients (cnbc.com)
(Saturday April 19, 2025 @05:34PM (EditorDavid)
from the all-in-your-head dept.)
- Reference: 0177064227
- News link: https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/25/04/19/057216/brain-implant-cleared-by-americas-fda-to-help-paralysis-patients
- Source link: https://www.cnbc.com/2025/04/17/brain-implant-cleared-fda-musk-neuralink-rival-precision-neuroscience.html
An anonymous reader shared [1]this report from CNBC :
> Neurotech startup Precision Neuroscience on Thursday announced that a core component of its brain implant system has been [2]approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration , a major win for the four-year-old company... The company's brain-computer interface will initially be used to help patients with severe paralysis restore functions such as speech and movement, according to [3]its website .
>
> Only part of Precision's system was approved by the FDA on Thursday, but it marks the first full regulatory clearance granted to a company developing a wireless BCI, Precision said in [4]a release . Other prominent startups in the space include Elon Musk's Neuralink, and [5]Synchron , which is backed by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates....
>
> The piece of Precision's system that the FDA approved is called the Layer 7 Cortical Interface. The microelectrode array is thinner than a human hair and resembles a piece of yellow scotch tape. Each array is made up of 1,024 electrodes that can record, monitor and stimulate electrical activity on the brain's surface. When it is placed on the brain, Precision says it can conform to the surface without damaging any tissue. The FDA authorized Layer 7 to be implanted in patients for up to 30 days, and Precision will be able to market the technology for use in clinical settings. This means surgeons will be able to use the array during procedures to map brain signals, for instance. It is not Precision's end goal for the technology, but it will help the company generate revenue in the near term.
Precision's co-founder and chief science officer also helped co-found Musk's Neuralink in 2017 before departing the following year, according to the article. He nows says this regulatory clearance "will exponentially increase our access to diverse, high-quality data, which will help us to build BCI systems that work more effectively."
[1] https://www.cnbc.com/2025/04/17/brain-implant-cleared-fda-musk-neuralink-rival-precision-neuroscience.html
[2] https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2025/04/17/3063418/0/en/Precision-Neuroscience-Receives-FDA-Clearance-for-High-Resolution-Cortical-Electrode-Array.html
[3] https://precisionneuro.io/about
[4] https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2025/04/17/3063418/0/en/Precision-Neuroscience-Receives-FDA-Clearance-for-High-Resolution-Cortical-Electrode-Array.html
[5] https://www.cnbc.com/2023/02/18/synchron-backed-by-bezos-and-gates-tests-brain-computer-interface.html
> Neurotech startup Precision Neuroscience on Thursday announced that a core component of its brain implant system has been [2]approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration , a major win for the four-year-old company... The company's brain-computer interface will initially be used to help patients with severe paralysis restore functions such as speech and movement, according to [3]its website .
>
> Only part of Precision's system was approved by the FDA on Thursday, but it marks the first full regulatory clearance granted to a company developing a wireless BCI, Precision said in [4]a release . Other prominent startups in the space include Elon Musk's Neuralink, and [5]Synchron , which is backed by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates....
>
> The piece of Precision's system that the FDA approved is called the Layer 7 Cortical Interface. The microelectrode array is thinner than a human hair and resembles a piece of yellow scotch tape. Each array is made up of 1,024 electrodes that can record, monitor and stimulate electrical activity on the brain's surface. When it is placed on the brain, Precision says it can conform to the surface without damaging any tissue. The FDA authorized Layer 7 to be implanted in patients for up to 30 days, and Precision will be able to market the technology for use in clinical settings. This means surgeons will be able to use the array during procedures to map brain signals, for instance. It is not Precision's end goal for the technology, but it will help the company generate revenue in the near term.
Precision's co-founder and chief science officer also helped co-found Musk's Neuralink in 2017 before departing the following year, according to the article. He nows says this regulatory clearance "will exponentially increase our access to diverse, high-quality data, which will help us to build BCI systems that work more effectively."
[1] https://www.cnbc.com/2025/04/17/brain-implant-cleared-fda-musk-neuralink-rival-precision-neuroscience.html
[2] https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2025/04/17/3063418/0/en/Precision-Neuroscience-Receives-FDA-Clearance-for-High-Resolution-Cortical-Electrode-Array.html
[3] https://precisionneuro.io/about
[4] https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2025/04/17/3063418/0/en/Precision-Neuroscience-Receives-FDA-Clearance-for-High-Resolution-Cortical-Electrode-Array.html
[5] https://www.cnbc.com/2023/02/18/synchron-backed-by-bezos-and-gates-tests-brain-computer-interface.html
Paper (Score:2)
by BettyJJ ( 2689927 )
There is a paper on The Layer 7 Cortical Interface: [1]https://www.biorxiv.org/conten... [biorxiv.org]
[1] https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2022.01.02.474656v2
30 days max? (Score:3)
Its a start. I wonder if they would leave it in if a patient showed massive improvement.
Re: (Score:3)
Yeah I have to imagine there is some legal process when the patient is signed up to pilot this but if they did recover so well it's not as though they can force someone to go under surgery so there might be civil action, or at least the threat of it? It's an interesting ethical question.
I would imagine and hope the company and the patient and hopefully the FDA would just let them continue and be monitored if they wanted to, knowing the risks.
Re: (Score:2)
and if some is in jail can they force surgery? or will they need to fight it out in court?
Re: (Score:2)
I don't think you can force a surgery to a prisoner also? According this this it can only be done when implied consent (unconscious) contagious or venereal or interest of the state (which maybe that could be stretched here in this case?)
Of course US prisons are famous for following all the laws as written.
[1]https://www.ojp.gov/ncjrs/virt... [ojp.gov]
[1] https://www.ojp.gov/ncjrs/virtual-library/abstracts/health-care-jails-inmates-medical-records-and-jail-inmates-right
Subscription Service (Score:2)
> Its a start. I wonder if they would leave it in if a patient showed massive improvement.
Sure....as long as they [1]pay the monthyl subscription fee [wikipedia.org]. Balck Mirror gets it so close sometimes I'm beginning to wonder if Charlie Broker is time traveller from the futre.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_People_(Black_Mirror)