A brain implant that could rival Neuralink's enters clinical trials

"Paradromics' BCI is a roughly 20 x 20 millimetre grid of thin, stiff, platinum-iridium electrodes that penetrate the surface of the cerebral cortex to record from individual neurons around 1.5 mm deep. This is then connected by wire to a power source and wireless transceiver implanted in an individual's chest. Initially, the two volunteers will each have one electrode array implanted in the area of the motor cortex that controls the lips, tongue and larynx, Angle says."

"Neural activity will then be recorded from this region as the study participants imagine speaking sentences that are presented to them. Following previous work by researchers who are now collaborating with Paradromics, the system learns what patterns of neural activity correspond to each intended speech sound. When participants imagine speaking these neural patterns will be converted into text on a screen for participants to approve, or into a real-time voice output based on old recordings of participants' own voices."

FDA approval enables the first long-term clinical trial of Paradromics' brain-computer interface, with implants planned for two volunteers who lost the ability to speak due to neurological disease. The trial has two goals: confirm device safety and restore real-time communication. The device consists of a roughly 20 x 20 millimetre penetrating electrode array connected by wire to a chest-implanted power source and wireless transceiver. Arrays will target motor-cortex regions controlling lips, tongue and larynx to record neural activity during imagined speech. Decoded neural patterns will be converted to text for approval or into synthetic voice output based on prior voice recordings. The trial will also assess detection of imagined hand movements.

Read at Nature