November 4, 2022
Synchron, a New York-based company, has invented a product called Synchron Switch that helps patients control an iPhone or iPad with their brains, and researchers have nothing but praise for it, making it the first company to receive FDA approval for clinical trials on a computer brain implant.
According to Semafor, a Stentrode, or array of sensors, is implanted into the top of the brain via a blood vessel. The Synchron Switch on the patient’s chest is used to control it wirelessly.
One of the users of the Synchron Switch’s users is Rodney Gorham, a retired software salesman from Melbourne, who suffers from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS, a disorder of the nervous system that severely impairs physical functioning.
His iPad is his primary form of communication. The Synchron Switch transforms Gorham’s thoughts into action on the iPad’s screen. When he thinks about tapping his foot, his iPad registers it as a tap on the screen. Gorham also taps on his iPad and uses the device that has been surgically implanted into his brain.
Synchron’s research is still in its infancy, and it keeps things simple by not trying to train patients’ brains to play ping-pong or type 20 words per minute, but by training the device to recognize a foot tap as a brain signal, and Apple is investing in similar technology by funding a team of researchers at Carnegie Mellon University.
“We’re excited about iOS and Apple products because they’re so ubiquitous. And this would be the first brain switch input into the device,” Synchron’s co-founder and CEO said.
The sources for this piece include an article in 9to5Mac.
