Once the electrodes are in place, the BCI is trained to decode the patient\u2019s brain activity, turning the electrical signals produced when they think a certain thought into a command for a computer or another kind of device. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
One day, these systems could make it so anyone<\/em> can control their tech with their minds, but before we get there, developers want to use BCIs to help people overcome health issues, such as paralysis<\/a> \u2014 once in place, the BCI could help an immobile person type on a screen<\/a> or control a prosthetic limb<\/a> using just their thoughts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In recent years, we\u2019ve seen a surge<\/a> in the number of researchers trying to develop these sci-fi systems and in the number of investors backing them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There\u2019s a good reason for that interest, too. About 5.4 million people in the US live with a form of paralysis, and a BCI that helps treat their condition could be worth a lot of money. In 2024, Grand View Research estimated that the total addressable market for BCIs was $160 billion<\/a>, while Morgan Stanley thinks that number can triple<\/a> over the next decade. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Whether BCIs can actually help any of these people \u2014 and achieve the numbers Wall Street is floating \u2014 will come down to developers\u2019 ability to get their products to the market, and one promising BCI startup, Precision Neuroscience<\/a>, just took the lead in the race to commercialization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Precision\u2019s co-founder and chief science officer, Benjamin Rapoport, has been at the BCI game for a while \u2014 in 2016, he co-founded Elon Musk\u2019s BCI company, Neuralink<\/a>, but he then decamped to start his own venture with Michael Mager, Precision\u2019s current CEO, in 2021. Their goal is to develop a minimally-invasive, easy-to-implant BCI.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt’s been very important for us all from the beginning to understand how the technology interacts with the medical ecosystem, with patients and physicians in a very practically minded way,\u201d Rapoport told me. \u201cThat plays into the design of the system.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The core component of Precision\u2019s in-development BCI is the Layer 7 Cortical Interface. It looks like a wristband one would receive upon entering an outdoor music festival, but don\u2019t be deceived by its visual flimsiness \u2014 although the strip is thinner than a strand of human hair, it holds 1,024 electrodes, more than many of Precision\u2019s competitors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the BCI world, more electrodes typically translates to greater accuracy<\/a>, but the challenge is getting a large number of them in place without causing damage to the brain. Precision\u2019s electrode array is thin enough that it can rest on the surface<\/em> of the brain, just under the skull, which prevents the damage to brain tissue that can occur with BCIs that are implanted directly into the organ.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Precision\u2019s implantation process is also designed to be less invasive than others. While most BCIs require surgeons to remove a bit of a patient\u2019s skull, Precision\u2019s array is thin enough to be slid onto the motor cortex of their brain through an incision less than 1 millimeter wide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Precision hasn\u2019t had to worry too much about the implantation process yet, though. So far, it has tested the Layer 7 Cortical Interface in 39 patients, and they were all undergoing brain surgery for other reasons, such as tumor removal, so surgeons just used whatever entryway they\u2019d already created for those purposes to place the array.<\/p>\n\n\n\n They then had to remove the flexible device before the end of the surgery, but because many of the patients were awake and able to interact with their surgical teams during the procedures, Precision has been able to collect \u201can incredibly interesting treasure trove of data\u201d during these short trials, according to Rapoport.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That treasure trove of data is about to get a lot bigger. <\/p>\n\n\n\n On April 17, Precision announced<\/a> that the FDA had cleared the Layer 7 Cortical Interface for commercial use in patients for up to 30 days. That means the company can now sell the array to clinicians who want to use it to record, map, or even stimulate a patient\u2019s brain both during surgery and as they are recovering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This 30-day extension means Precision will be able to collect a lot <\/em>more brain data, which is needed to develop the algorithms that translate users\u2019 thoughts into commands for machines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNeural decoding algorithms, like all AI-driven products, rely on vast amounts of data,\u201d Rapoport said in a press release<\/a>. \u201cThis regulatory clearance will exponentially increase our access to diverse, high-quality data, which will help us to build BCI systems that work more effectively.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt\u2019s been many years in the making.”<\/p>\nCraig Mermel<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n The FDA\u2019s clearance also makes Precision the first company in this new wave of BCI developers to receive commercial approval from the government for any part of its system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt’s been said that the difference between a prototype and a product is like 100-fold in difficulty,\u201d Rapoport told me. \u201cI think something like that applies here. The field of brain-computer interfaces has been around in the scientific world for more than two decades, but this is one of the very first FDA clearances of any piece of that ecosystem.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt\u2019s been many years in the making \u2014 to take a novel type of device and bring it through all of the rigorous safety and functional testing that\u2019s required to achieve this clearance,\u201d added Craig Mermel, Precision\u2019s president and chief product officer. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The FDA clearance may have given Precision the lead in the race to commercialization, but it hasn\u2019t won yet. The Layer 7 Cortical Interface is just one part of its BCI, and several other groups are making swift progress in developing their own systems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The aforementioned Neuralink recently sewed its tiny implant, which is about the size of five stacked quarters, directly into the motor cortex of a third patient, a nonverbal man with ALS. That person then used the system \u2014 and the Grok AI chatbot<\/a> \u2014 to type using just his thoughts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Another competitor, Synchron<\/a>, backed by the investment firms of Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos, is developing its own minimally invasive BCI. It reaches the brain through a blood vessel, eliminating the need for any drilling of the skull. They\u2019ve tested it in at least 10 people and have begun integrating ChatGPT<\/a> into the device. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe\u2019re putting everything together. Integrating it, testing it, and working on future generations.\u201d<\/p>Brian Otis<\/cite><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n The next major milestone for Precision will be clinical trials testing a fully implanted system \u2014 Rapoport told me those will begin in 2026. The company is now preparing the device for the trials at its three US labs, including one in Santa Clara where a series of benchtop stress tests replicate the strain the strip will go through in the operating room during implantation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe device is very thin and flexible, so we need to make sure as it\u2019s being handled in the operating room, the surgeon doesn\u2019t actually break those very delicate traces,\u201d said Mermel while showing me the tests. \u201cThis is one example of dozens of types of data we had to provide to the FDA as part of the 510(k) approval.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThis is really where we\u2019re doing a lot of the system integration of the new components that we\u2019re inventing at our New York and Texas facilities,\u201d added Brian Otis, Precision\u2019s chief technology officer. \u201cWe\u2019re putting everything together. Integrating it, testing it, and working on future generations.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n If everything goes as the Precision team hopes, it\u2019ll emerge as the leader of the burgeoning BCI industry, a position that could not only make it a very profitable business, but also change the lives of millions of people living with paralysis \u2014 and maybe even let you send a text using just your thoughts one day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"Several](\"https:\/\/www.freethink.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/image_4ae90c.jpeg?quality=75\")
Thinner. Safer. Smarter.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.freethink.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/image_d92410.jpeg?quality=75\")
A major milestone<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Looking ahead<\/h3>\n\n\n\n