ICN2 Spin-off INBRAIN Neuroelectronics Achieves the World's First Application of a Graphene Brain-Computer Interface in a Human Patient

by Jose M Arcos

The revolutionary clinical procedure took place at the Salford Royal Hospital in Manchester. INBRAIN, co-founded by researchers from ICN2 and CSIC, confirms its position at the forefront of precision neurology.

INBRAIN Neuroelectronics, a spin-off company of ICN2 and CSIC devoted to the manufacture of brain-computer interfaces (BCI) with clinical applications and a pioneer in the development of neural technologies based on graphene, has announced the world's first application of a graphene interface in a human patient. This intervention was performed on a patient undergoing resection (removal) of a brain tumour. INBRAIN's BCI technology was used to help the surgeon perform a more precise resection by accurately monitoring brain activity and helping to distinguish between cancerous and healthy tissue.

The procedure is part of a clinical study sponsored by the University of Manchester and led by ICREA Prof. Kostas Kostarelos, ICN2 Group Leader, Professor of Nanomedicine at the University of Manchester and Co-Founder of INBRAIN, and Dr David Coope, Neurosurgeon in the Manchester Centre for Clinical Neuroscience. He was responsible for leading the surgery at Salford Royal Hospital.

Graphene's amazing properties

This achievement shows the enormous potential of BCI technology, which goes beyond decoding and translating brain signals. This technology has become a powerful tool for precision surgery. The implant developed by INBRAIN exploits graphene's unique electronic and mechanical properties, making it ideal for innovation in neurotechnology.

Graphene offers a high capacity for sensing and stimulation, crucial for performing high-precision surgery and preserving the patient's functional abilities, such as movement, speech or cognition. “After an extensive development period, the human study will be conducted on 8-10 patients to demonstrate the safety of graphene in contact with the human brain”, highlighted Prof. Kostas Kostarelos. It will also seek to prove graphene's superiority over other materials in decoding brain functionality.

ICREA Prof. Jose A. Garrido, Vice-Director and Group Leader at ICN2, and Co-Founder and Scientific Director of INBRAIN, noted: "The integration of graphene and artificial intelligence with advanced semiconductor materials technology has allowed INBRAIN to pioneer the development of a new generation of minimally invasive BCI therapies for the personalised treatment of neurological disorders."

A new era for BCI technology

According to Carolina Aguilar, CEO and Co-Founder of INBRAIN, "This first human application of graphene-based BCI technology opens a new era for these technologies, opening the way for further advances in both neural decoding and therapeutic applications. INBRAIN is at the forefront of precision neurology, integrating BCI decoding with high-precision neuromodulation to restore function and minimise adverse patient events.”