Researchers from the lab of Dr. Iahn Cajigas presented results at the Society for Neuroscience (SfN) Neuroscience 2024 conference in Chicago. Cajigas serves as a neurosurgeon at Penn Medicine and an assistant professor of neurosurgery and bioengineering at Penn, one of the Precision study sites.
The data comes from a study utilizing Precision Neuroscience’s Layer 7 Cortical Interface. In March, Precision Neuroscience said it launched new clinical study sites at Mount Sinai Health System and the University of Pennsylvania. The studies evaluate the Layer 7, a thin-film brain-computer interface technology. Layer 7 features 1,024 tiny electrodes spanning an area of one square centimeter.
In Layer 7, Precision Neuroscience embedded the electrodes in a flexible film that conforms to the brain surface. The film comes in at one-fifth the thickness of a human hair. Precision Neuroscience designed it for implantation and removal by neurosurgeons without damaging brain tissue. It maps electrical activity at a high resolution.
(Precision Neuroscience is featured on our 2023 list of BCI companies you need to know. You can also check out our lists of BCI companies to know from 2022 and 2024.)
The company says it expects its brain implant to enable people with severe neurological conditions, like speech deficits and paralysis, to regain independence, communicate with loved ones and rejoin the workforce.
“This research could serve as the foundation for life-changing advancements for patients through BCI technology,” said Cajigas. “With better insights on how the brain controls movement in real-time, we can develop new treatments for patients with paralysis or other impairments. BCIs show great promise to make an incredible impact in patient care.”
More about the data on the Precision Neuroscience BCI
In the study, investigators placed a Layer 7 Cortical Interface on the motor cortex of a patient undergoing deep brain stimulation (DBS) for essential tremor.
As the patient performed hand gestures, special high-resolution sensors simultaneously captured hand movements. While this took place, the Layer 7 array monitored neural activity in real time. The device provided a first-ever view of the spatiotemporale volution of beta oscillatory behaviors in the motor cortex during common hand gestures.
According to Precision Neuroscience, the study revealed that, while beta waves formed spirals during rest and propagated in one direction (likely representing resting-state neural dynamics), they suppressed during active movement, and returned in a complex pattern after the conclusion of movement.
These dynamics could reflect the phasic recruitment of specialized regions within the motor cortex during planning and execution of movement. The company says this offers a new understanding of how the brain controls movement. In turn, this could lead to more precise motor decoding for BCIs, Precision Neuroscience says.
“We are building technology to help people with devastating neurological conditions reconnect with the world around them. By collecting as much information as possible about neural activity, we’re making it computable for BCIs to achieve the most exciting functions, like controlling a robotic limb with just a thought,” said Dr. Ben Rapoport, co-founder and chief science officer of Precision Neuroscience.
