Brain computer interface revolutionizing life for motor-impaired

(NewsNation) — A father from Pennsylvania who has ALS is the first person in the world to control an iPad entirely with his mind.

Mark Jackson, who was diagnosed with the disease in 2021, lost the ability to use his arms. ALS is known to affect nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord, resulting in those cells gradually breaking down and dying, leading to worsening muscle weakness.

While there is no cure for ALS, Synchron, a neurotech company, has given Jackson a new lease on life. The 65-year-old received the brain computer interface from the company, which can help people with paralysis by translating their thoughts into action.

"This is a Class 3 medical device," said Kurt Haggstrom, Synchron's chief commercial officer, in a Tuesday appearance on "Elizabeth Vargas Reports." "There's no easy path. We've been at this for 13 years in close collaboration with the FDA. So, I don't think this is another 10 years away.

"Within the next two or three years, we're going to be able to see this type of technology for people out in the market."

BCI collects neuro signals from patients

Haggstrom says a brain computer interface works in the same way the brain fires signals.

"When you think of moving, what happens is your brain actually fires signals," Haggstrom explained. "Those can be captured by the sensors. Those sensors then get translated and decoded, that translate into digital actions such as scroll, click, move the cursor."

"Those are all things that can be done by translating those electrical signals within the brain."

Synchron's BCI procedure complete opposite of Neuralink

Synchron is a direct competitor to Elon Musk's Neuralink, which is developing its own interface that aims to help people with paralysis restore some independence.

Haggstrom feels Synchron's sensor and procedure are less invasive.

"It's really revolutionized. I think the approach for plantable computer interfaces, where over the last two decades, brain computer interfaces have required, including Neuralink, requires to remove the skull, which is called the craniotomy, and either place the sensors on the brain or actually in the brain itself.

"Our founders thought of it in different ways. In a different approach, we take the blood vessels, the pathways that don't have to open up the skull to be able to get on top of the brain and listen to the brain without actually touching the brain itself."