Bridge Neurotech emerged from stealth this week with $13.5 million in funding and a plan to build non-invasive and non-surgical sensors that use ultrasound to track brain activity through the skull.
Its approach uses echoes to track the flow of oxygenated blood, which increases among neurons firing more often, and then works to decode that information as a proxy for a person’s intended thoughts or actions.
The startup has joined Butterfly’s Embedded program, and will license its ultrasound-on-a-chip platform through a multi-year agreement that will include future development milestone payments, though the exact financial terms were not disclosed.
The Bridge team isn’t a stranger to Butterfly’s technology and its applications in BCI. Its founder and CEO, Will Biederman, previously helped launch Forest Neurotech, which was an early partner in the Embedded initiative.
At the top of this year Forest spun out Merge Labs, the OpenAI- and Sam Altman-backed BCI venture that posted a $252 million seed round to chase methods of understanding the brain that may avoid the need for implants, electrodes or surgery.
Bridge is technically a spinout from Forest as well; the remainder of that company is now known as Arbor Neuroscience, a non-profit tasked with eventually turning Butterfly’s ultrasound waves into neuromodulation capable of delivering therapy.
“We started Bridge because we believe the pieces are finally in place to make a non-invasive brain-computer interface possible, and ultrasound is central to that opportunity,” Biederman said in a statement. “Butterfly has already brought ultrasound onto a fully integrated semiconductor chip, giving us a powerful and programmable foundation as we work toward real-time, non-invasive interaction with the brain.”
Butterfly’s licensing program now spans about a dozen partnerships, including deals giving Butterfly a cut of future commercial revenues for the developed products.
In a recent example, earlier this month the company’s partner Mendaera — Embedded’s first — announced its FDA-cleared handheld robot for guided, needle-based procedures can now be paired with Butterfly’s iQ3 probe.
“The BCI category holds enormous potential, from treating serious conditions to expanding human capabilities,” Butterfly President and CEO Joseph DeVivo said. “One of the most fundamental challenges will be expanding that potential to the masses. Innovators like Bridge are exploring surgery-free approaches to broaden access, and we’re proud our Ultrasound-on-Chip technology can help advance that pursuit.”
