Paradromics has announced a new collaboration with Siemens Healthineers to construct an advanced multimodal imaging platform to support the growing clinical use of implantable brain-computer interfaces (BCIs).
The collaboration will combine Siemens Healthineers’ advanced medical imaging expertise with Paradromics’ clinical and technical competency in BCIs.
The companies together aim to develop an integrated imaging approach spanning a range of BCI care. This includes patient candidacy assessment and neural target identification as well as surgical planning, intraoperative navigation, post-implant localization, neural validation of functional imaging findings, and outcomes assessment.
Brain-computer interfaces are advancing from academic proof-of-concept research toward clinical systems capable of restoring functions such as communication and computer control.
Still in the clinical trial stage, the BCI company Synchron is developing an implant that restores communication and independence for paralysis patients. A study showed its technology enabled patients to text, email and communicate hands-free using their thoughts.
Last year, the first Neuralink patient in the U.K. was able to control a computer using only his thoughts, according to the University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.
While these technologies are designed to empower immobilized patients, the goal of the Paradomics and Siemens Healthineers team up is to empower physicians by developing an end-to-end multimodal imaging workflow designed to support patient assessment, though the companies say the technology could expand to assist stroke victims as well.
Building on standard imaging protocols already used by Paradromics on Siemens Healthineers scanners, the companies intend to develop an optimized end-to-end imaging package encompassing image acquisition, co-registration and processing, surgical-navigation-ready outputs, and increasingly automated analysis.
The aim is to create an approach that can ultimately be deployed efficiently across medical centers using Siemens Healthineers imaging systems.
“Building the best hardware is only part of the story. BCI performance begins before an implant ever reaches the brain,” said Matt Angle, PhD, founder and CEO of Paradromics, in a statement.
“The ability to understand each patient’s individual anatomy and functional organization can help us identify the right neural target and place our technology with greater accuracy. Working with Siemens Healthineers will help us streamline this process prior to surgery, so that patients get the best possible outcome.”
The planned workflow will integrate multiple imaging modalities, including structural MRI, functional MRI, vascular imaging and CT. Together, these technologies can help clinical teams assess brain anatomy, identify functionally relevant regions, plan surgical trajectories, avoid critical vascular structures, and determine the final location of implanted BCI components.
The collaboration is expected to initially focus on speech-motor function, building on Paradromics’ clinical work in communication restoration. The companies envision extending the approach to additional BCI applications, including hand motor control and language restoration following stroke.