Science Corp. plans first US test of a brain sensor in a patient

In short: Science Corporation says it is preparing to place its first brain sensor in a human patient in the US.

What happened

Science Corporation is a startup founded in 2021 by Max Hodak, a former president and co-founder of Neuralink. The company told TechCrunch it is preparing for its first US tests in people of a brain sensor, which is a small device meant to measure brain activity.

To help lead this work, the company has brought on Dr. Murat Günel, chair of neurosurgery at Yale School of Medicine, as a scientific adviser. Günel said his goal is to surgically place the first sensor in a patient’s brain area as an early step toward a future “brain computer interface” (a way for the brain and a computer to send signals back and forth).

Science says its approach differs from implants that go directly into brain tissue. Instead, its first sensor would sit inside the skull but rest on top of the brain, like placing a thin reader on a book cover rather than inserting something into the pages. The sensor is described as pea-sized and contains 520 tiny recording points called electrodes (small contacts that can pick up electrical signals).

The company plans to start with patients who already need major brain surgery, such as some stroke patients who require part of the skull to be removed to relieve swelling. At first, Science plans to test the sensor without the lab-grown neurons it ultimately wants to include.

Why it matters

If the sensor works safely, it could help doctors measure brain activity in new ways and possibly provide gentle electrical stimulation to damaged brain or spinal cord cells to encourage healing. Günel told TechCrunch it would be optimistic to expect broader human trials to begin in 2027.

Source: TechCrunch AI