But open-brain surgeries carry many risks, including infection and bleeding. In addition to causing immediate, localised trauma to the brain, penetrating electrodes also induce an immune response, which has been reported to cause device failure within six months.

A means to bypass complex, invasive surgery and provide a permanent solution to enable patients to regain functional mobility would make it much safer for people with paralysis to carry out everyday activities, and benefit a wider range of people.

The Stentrode technology is based on research conducted by a multi-disciplinary team of over 40 medical and bioengineering specialists, including many from the University, led by Associate Professor Tom Oxley and Professor Nicholas Opie (co-heads of the Vascular Bionics Laboratory and co-founders of Synchron).

The challenge was to engineer a tiny device that could be embedded with electrodes, collapse to a few millimetres during delivery and self-expand to conform to the curvature and diameter of the implanted vessel once deployed.

The University has long-standing relationships with both industry and other institutions. Access to the Florey Institute and the Royal Melbourne Hospital allow access to a wide range of experts.

The recent conclusion of the world’s first trial revealed that the Stentrode™ device, capable of reading brain signals, was safely implanted in all participants. Placed in the motor cortex area of the brain, the Stentrode™ was successfully implanted in four participants during the safety trial conducted by the Royal Melbourne Hospital (RMH) and the University of Melbourne. 

The trial not only confirmed the safe implantation of the device without any adverse effects but also demonstrated its effectiveness in enabling patients to perform tasks such as hands-free texting, emailing, online banking and shopping, and communicating care needs through electrical signals generated by their thoughts.