Brain Implant Tech Enables ALS Patient To Control Amazon Alexa With His Mind

Slowly but surely, brain-computer control technology is turning from a distant sci-fi pipe dream to real-world, life-changing applications. While most brain-computer interfaces (BCI) call for invasive implantation, the revolutionary version from Synchron requires a much less involved procedure of insertion into a blood vessel near the surface of the skull. Yesterday, Synchron revealed one of its early success stories regarding the tech, which has allowed an ALS patient to control his smart home with merely his thoughts.

Mark, a 64-year old man with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) has reliably been able to use his thoughts to control his smart home through Amazon Alexa's Tap to Alexa feature. He had previously been using his voice to command Alexa, but now he can control his lights (and other connected smart phone devices), play media, make video calls, buy stuff on Amazon, and read books, all with his mind. 

This is possibly thanks to Synchron's implated BCI and customized tiles on Mark's Amazon Fire tablet. Without the need for hands (due to ALS) or voice, Mark can simply use his mind to select the tiles he need on the UI, which have preset Alexa functions. While this tech is very much in its early stages, it's really great to see positive implications for its users.

We've covered another BCI by Neuralink. So far, the Elon Musk-founded company has demonstrated that patients have been able to perform more complex tasks, such as gaming and controlling their PCs just by thinking it. The difference between the two approaches, however, are quite vast. The biggest one is that Synchron's version requires a minor endovascular procedure, involving implanting the BCI in the blood vessel on the surface of the motor cortex of the brain via the jugular vein. Neuralink patients, on the hand, require an open skull procedure. 

This allows Synchron's BCI to be implanted at more clinical facilities, while promising way less hardware complexity. On the flip side, Neuralink has a larger number of electrodes (1,024) that capture more brain signals that allow for more complex actions, which is in stark contrast to Synchron's 16 electrodes. It's like comparing a low resolution camera to an 8K camera.

In terms of availability, there is more testing to be done. So far, Synchron (with backing by Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates) has tested its system with 10 patients, with more in the pipeline. Assuming the tech is eventually production-ready, there's still the FDA hurdle to content with.