Mind Over Matter

For individuals with severe paralysis, functional independence can seem like an impossible dream. But in the age of AI, it’s not just possible—it’s becoming reality.

One of the more exciting developments is neurotechnology company Synchron’s endovascular brain-computer interface, designed to allow someone with limited to no mobility control personal devices, like a cellphone or computer, with their thoughts. A recent clinical trial conducted in Buffalo and at two other sites demonstrated safety and quantified measures of efficacy, paving the way for larger trials in the coming months.

The interface is implanted within the motor cortex of the brain through a minimally invasive endovascular procedure. Once implanted, it can detect and wirelessly transmit intended movement patterns as digital commands through a technology called “digital motor output,” effectively enabling severely paralyzed people to control their devices with their intentions.

Said Elad Levy, L. Nelson Hopkins Endowed Chair of Neurosurgery at the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at the University at Buffalo, and a principal investigator on the study, “It takes a person who has to have everything done by a caretaker and it gives them back some independence and functionality.” 

Two of the six patients in the study were enrolled at the Gates Vascular Institute (GVI) in Buffalo—a   natural choice, said Levy, for Synchron to make.

“Our group at UB and the GVI has been in the forefront of learning how to navigate complex devices in the venous system of the brain,” he said. “[It’s] the reason we were selected to be one of the first places where this kind of procedure would be done.”

The neurosurgeons were assisted by a third Buffalo partner, the Jacobs Institute, a vascular and neurologic medical device innovation center. Bioengineers at the institute crafted engineered precision 3D-printed models to scale of each patient’s anatomy and vascular structures, allowing Levy’s group to optimize their procedures before even touching the patients.

Levy presented the results of the trial to the Congress of Neurological Surgeons in September of 2024, which in turn awarded him the Duke Samson Award, recognizing the best clinical paper addressing a topic of cerebrovascular surgery.

In addition to bringing people with severe paralysis one step closer to functional independence, said Levy, the trial provided invaluable lessons for the team that planned and developed the procedure, including residents and fellows at UB.

UB neurosurgeon Rosalind Lai, who was a fellow at the time, agrees. “It was very exciting to be part of this cutting-edge neurosurgery,” she said. “It was almost like science fiction.”