Brain Interface 🧠

Subcategory of brain-computer-interface. Devices that connect to the brain itself — cortex or deeper — rather than the eye. Covers motor/speech BCIs and cortical visual prostheses.

Design families

Design family	Example	Notes
Penetrating microelectrode arrays	Neuralink N1 (1,024 electrodes), Blackrock Neurotech Utah arrays (~100 ch, 30+ yrs in humans)	Highest signal quality; chronic viability/stability is the hard part
Surface thin-film arrays	Precision Neuroscience Layer 7 (1,024 contacts on ~0.5 mm film)	Less tissue damage; FDA 510(k) cleared June 2025 for ≤30-day intraoperative mapping
Endovascular	Synchron Stentrode (~16 electrodes, vein-based, no craniotomy)	Minimally invasive; lower SNR; Human trials ongoing
High-bandwidth penetrating	paradromics Connexus (1,600-channel platform; FIH device reported at 421 microelectrodes)	Highest data rate; FDA IDE approved Nov 2025 (Connect-One study); first human surgery June 2025
Cortical visual prostheses	Cortigent Orion (60 contacts), Neuralink Blindsight, Monash Gennaris	Stimulate visual cortex to create phosphenes — see below

Cortical visual prostheses (bridge subcategory)

• Neuralink Blindsight — FDA Breakthrough Device designation (2024); implant in visual cortex fed by a camera; intended for patients blind from any cause with an intact visual cortex; Musk: initially “like Atari graphics”; first human implants expected ~2026 (statements 2026); see cortical-visual-prosthesis.
• Cortigent Orion — continuation of the retinal-prosthesis-adjacent Second Sight program; 60 electrodes on the visual cortex; 6-yr Early Feasibility Study results (NANS Jan 2026); company (Vivani Medical subsidiary, S-1 filed for Nasdaq ticker CRGT) is pivoting away from the Argus II; see cortigent.
• Phosphoenix (NL) — Roelfsema’s spin-off; 1,024-channel macaque proof (Science 2020); now targets the LGN with the Fountain Probe; see phosphoenix.
• ReVision Implant (BE) — “Occular” deep intracortical V1 arrays, >1,000 electrodes; FDA Breakthrough; FIH scheduled Q3 2026; see revision-implant.
• Monash Vision Group Gennaris (Australia) — ~172-electrode cortical implant; first-in-human trials being planned; preclinical validation in large animals.
• Mindtrix 明视脑机 (China) — ECoG 128-ch dual-function array + 256-ch stimulator; visual-cortex (V1) pathway; human IITs (shape/colour/Chinese character 八); best-funded dedicated cortical visual prosthesis startup (RMB 500M ≈ US$70M); blind-patient IIT 2026; see mindtrix.
• Combined overview: visual-prosthesis.

Major companies & status (Aug 2026)

Company	HQ	Device	Regulatory status	Funding
Neuralink	US	N1 (motor), Blindsight (visual)	N1 first human Jan 2024; Blindsight FDA Breakthrough	$650M Series E (June 2025)
Synchron	US	Stentrode (endovascular)	FDA IDE 2021; ~10 patients	Bezos/Gates backed
Blackrock Neurotech	US	Utah arrays (NeuroPort, BIP)	Long-standing human trials	—
Precision Neuroscience	US	Layer 7	FDA 510(k) clearance 2025 (30-day use)	—
Paradromics	US	Connexus (1,600 ch)	FDA IDE Nov 2025; first human surgery June 2025	$108.6M total
Stairway Medical	China	—	—	$48M Series B (Feb 2025), largest China BCI round
Cortigent	US	Orion (cortical vision)	FDA Breakthrough; S-1 filed	Vivani Medical subsidiary

Case study: Paradromics Connexus first-in-human (June 2025)

• First human implant/recording at University of Michigan Health during an epilepsy resection (temporal lobectomy); led by Matthew Willsey, MD, PhD with senior epilepsy surgeon Oren Sagher, MD; team incl. Joseph Costello, Matthew Mender, Enrico Opri, William Stacey.¹
• Connexus (wireless, fully implantable) recorded brain signals and was removed intact in <20 minutes using standard surgical techniques; followed ~3 years of preclinical studies with the same device; “first of many surgeries” planned. Target indication: ALS, brainstem stroke, spinal cord injury.¹
• Device specs reported: penny-sized, 421 microelectrodes (U-M BME article) vs 1,600-channel platform figure — discrepancy flagged for verification (see paradromics).²
• Long-term use/safety trial planned for later 2025 → Connect-One study (FDA IDE Nov 2025).¹

Open questions

• Channel count vs. long-term safety: 100s (clinical standard) vs. 1,000s+ (needed for rich perception/vocoding) — see comparisons like Paradromics/Neuralink.
• Immune response, gliosis, electrode drift, power/batteries, wireless telemetry.
• Whether cortical vision (any-blindness generality, e.g. Blindsight) beats retinal (form-vision readability but disease-limited, e.g. PRIMA) in the long run: see retinal-prosthesis-companies and brain-computer-interface.

Related pages

• brain-computer-interface — category hub
• retinal-prosthesis — the sibling subcategory (retina as extension of the brain)
• neuralink — cortical BCI leading example
• paradromics — high-bandwidth penetrating example (Connexus)
• science-corp — company pursuing both retina-first BCI and next-gen biohybrid

References

• Crunchbase News: “Science Corp. … Raises $230M Series C” (2026-03; Neuralink, Synchron, Paradromics, Stairway Medical funding data).
• Paradromics: “Paradromics Receives FDA Approval for the Connect-One Clinical Study” (Nov 2025).
• Paradromics: “Paradromics Completes First-In-Human Recording with the Connexus® BCI” (Jun 2, 2025).
• U-M BME: “U-M multidisciplinary team leads first in-human recording with wireless BCI” (Jun 20, 2025).
• Neuralink: “Visual Prosthesis — Blindsight” (neuralink.com/trials/visual-prosthesis/).
• Medtech Dive: “Precision Neuroscience receives FDA clearance for brain implant” (2025).

Footnotes

1. raw/articles/paradromics-connexus-first-in-human-2025.md ↩ ↩² ↩³

2. raw/articles/umich-bme-connexus-first-in-human-2025.md ↩