The brain-computer interface developer Synchron has shown that its minimally invasive device can help connect a patient with an iPad, allowing them to control the device entirely by thought using Apple’s built-in accessibility features.
Synchron published a video of Mark, a person with ALS who has been participating in the company’s clinical trials, navigating an iPad’s apps and writing text without using his hands, voice or eye movement.
The project builds on a new device interface protocol launched by Apple this past May, for translating thought-based inputs from BCI systems such as Synchron’s Stentrode implant, and integrating them with its iPhones, iPads and Vision Pro headsets.
“This is the first time the world has seen native, thought-driven control of an Apple device in action,” Synchron’s founder and CEO, Tom Oxley, said in a statement. “Mark’s experience is a technical breakthrough, and a glimpse into the future of human-computer interaction, where cognitive input becomes a mainstream mode of control.”
Synchron previously demonstrated that its device could pair with a Vision Pro, also with Mark, who showed that the virtual reality headset could be operated with brain readings instead of hand gestures.
The benefits of the new protocol allow for Apple’s iPad operating system to share what’s being shown on the screen back to the BCI’s decoding software, to help optimize real-time performance and the accuracy of the brain’s motor signals.
“When I lost the use of my hands, I thought I had lost my independence,” Mark said. “Now, with my iPad, I can message my loved ones, read the news, and stay connected with the world, just by thinking. It’s given me part of my life back.”
The former Fierce Medtech Fierce 15 and Fierce 50 winner’s Stentrode is implanted within the blood vessels of the brain through a catheter-based approach, like other neurovascular procedures, with the goal of avoiding open surgery.