Brain implant company Synchron has paused clinical trials of its second-generation device after it failed to perform as expected in initial study participants, WIRED has learned.
The Brooklyn-based startup, a competitor to Elon Musk’s Neuralink, is also undergoing a restructuring, which includes eliminating jobs and scaling back its footprint in New York while building up a team in San Diego to support the development of an entirely new device.
Synchron is one of several companies developing brain-computer interface technology meant to allow people to control digital devices by reading brain signals and translating those signals into output commands. The company has touted its technology, dubbed the Stentrode, as minimally invasive since it does not rest in the brain itself or require brain surgery.
