Synchron Inc.'s recent $200 million raise for its Stentrode brain-computer interface platform comes at a pivotal time for the technology. Advances in BCI development, ongoing clinical trials and growing market demand are drawing increased investor interest in the technology which has the potential to transform the lives of millions of people. At the same time, government agencies are closely monitoring the field, recognizing the potential while urging caution about the risks involved.

Paradromics Inc. became the latest company developing a brain-computer interface (BCI) system to implant its technology, Connexus, into a human. The device was safely implanted, it recorded electrical brain signals and was removed intact in less than 20 minutes. Paradromics hopes to begin clinical trials later this year.

In what represents their first patenting, researchers from New York’s Stony Brook University filed for protection for development of a system and method that uses computer vision to analyze microscale facial movements in order to objectively help diagnose, monitor, and treat disorders of consciousness.

The recent 510(k) clearance by the U.S. FDA for a core part of Precision Neuroscience Corp. brain-computer interface technology is certainly a boon for the company, and others developing the devices. For the millions of people suffering from health disorders, such as motor neuron disease, spinal cord injury or severe stroke, its sign that a solution which could transform their lives could be just a few years away.

Researchers from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine filed for protection of the development of a lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN) visual prosthetic device with implantable electrode arrays that stimulate the LGN and restore vision.

Researchers from The Ohio State University have filed for protection of Neurothread, a wire-type neurotransmitter-sensing platform that utilizes the cross-section of commercially available ultrathin microwires as microelectrodes.

Precision Neuroscience Inc. recently partnered with Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center to test its brain computer interface, the Layer 7 Cortical Interface, during craniotomy procedures.

In a boon for companies developing brain-computer interface (BCI) technologies, researchers have used a BCI and artificial intelligence to restore touch sensations in a bionic arm.

Companies developing brain-computer interface (BCI) technologies certainly stepped up their activities this year with several starting to implant their devices into humans. After decades as an experimental technology pursued exclusively in research settings, BCI devices could be just a few years away from entering clinical practice – and investors are paying attention.

Precision Neuroscience Corp. recently raised $102 million in a series C funding round for its AI-powered brain–computer interface (BCI) technology, the Layer 7 Cortical Interface. The funding comes as interest in the technology heats up as clinical trials show that BCI devices are capable of transforming the lives of people with disabilities.