Paradromics Inc. said it has launched an Application Expansion (APEX) Partnership Program to collaborate with academic researchers using its Connexus brain-computer interface (BCI) platform.

Company leadership says APEX will align academic projects with Paradromics’ hardware and software. Paradromics Chief Scientific Officer Vikash Gilja, Ph.D., said the company’s platform is capable of transferring “over 200 bits of information per second with minimal delay,” and that the program will help move device development alongside scientific discovery, the company said.

The program names researchers at multiple U.S. institutions who will work with Paradromics on BCI applications for movement disorders, paralysis, speech loss and neurorecovery.

The stated academic partners include:

• Jaimie Henderson, M.D., and Frank Willett, Ph.D. (Stanford University) — working on multi-regional targeting protocols to expand clinical BCI scope.
• Dan Rubin, M.D., Ph.D. (Massachusetts General Hospital) — exploring BCIs for neurorecovery and use after acute brain injury; cited as lead author on a major safety assessment of implantable BCIs and director of a BCI clinic.
• Jennifer Collinger, Ph.D., and Robert Gaunt, Ph.D. (University of Pittsburgh) — focused on restoring motor and sensory function for upper-limb paralysis using bidirectional interfaces.
• Matt Willsey, M.D., Ph.D. (University of Michigan) — developing BCI controllers for complex systems, including assistive devices and research on adoption barriers.
• David Brandman, M.D., Ph.D. (UC Davis Health) — investigating speech restoration for people with dysarthria or anarthria.

Paradromics describes Connexus as a fully implanted BCI that records single-neuron activity from 421 micro-electrodes. The company says the electrodes are narrower than typical research devices and that the system avoids through-skin connectors used by many research setups.

Paradromics also said the U.S. Food and Drug Administration–approved Connect-One Clinical Study will evaluate long-term use of Connexus to restore speech and enable computer control for people with severe motor impairment. The company expects the first surgery in the Connect-One study in the first half of 2026.

Leigh Hochberg, M.D., Ph.D., director of the BrainGate clinical trials, is quoted by Paradromics saying publicly funded research has established potential for implantable BCIs and that academic–industry collaborations can expand opportunities to help people with neurologic disease or injury.

Photo credit: www.mpo-mag.com

Tags: brain-computer interface, Connexus, implantable BCI, academic partnerships, Connect-One study

Topics: Neurotech industry & startups, Brain–computer interfaces, Neuroprosthetics & neural implants