Salt Lake City-based Blackrock Neurotech designed its MoveAgain BCI system to provide immobile patients the ability to control a mouse cursor, keyboard, mobile device/tablet, wheelchair or prosthetic device by only thinking, according to a news release.
The company said the results of its portable MoveAgain BCI could include improved mobility and independence that leads to returning to work, participating in leisure activities and communicating more effectively and quickly.
MoveAgain BCI includes an array implanted in the brain, which decodes movement from neuronal activity. Signals are then transmitted wirelessly to an external device, like a cursor or wheelchair, providing people control of their external environment.
“We look forward to working closely with the FDA to prioritize development of the MoveAgain brain-computer interface system, which will bring us closer to our goal of commercialization in 2022,” Blackrock Neurotech Co-Founder & CEO Marcus Gerhardt said in the release. “Patients with tetraplegia are eager to get access, and we are committed to advancing their ability to increase their independence with our BCI technology.”
Blackrock Neurotech Chair & President Florian Solzbacher added that the company believes it has sufficient safety and efficacy data to support the first applications. Meanwhile, large-scale integration technologies have allowed further miniaturization as the company looks to develop a wireless version.
Solzbacher noted that Blackrock Neurotech aims to submit plans to make the products widely available in 2022.
“We are seeing the beginning of a revolution in the diagnosis and treatment of neurological disorders and disabilities,” Solzbacher said. “Ten years from now, neural implants could be as common as cardiac pacemakers are today — offering patients a whole new world of options that restore their independence.”
