A groundbreaking advancement in neuroscience and engineering promises to fundamentally reshape human interaction with technology and offer transformative new treatment avenues for a wide range of debilitating neurological conditions. Researchers from a consortium of leading institutions, including Columbia University, NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, Stanford University, and the University of Pennsylvania, have unveiled a revolutionary brain implant, dubbed the Biological Interface System to Cortex (BISC). This device, remarkably tiny and capable of transmitting brain data at unprecedented speeds, represents a significant leap forward in brain-computer interface (BCI) technology, holding the potential to restore lost motor, speech, and visual functions, as well as provide novel therapeutic strategies for epilepsy, spinal cord injury, Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), stroke, and blindness.

The core innovation of BISC lies in its extreme miniaturization and high-throughput data transmission capabilities. Unlike conventional implantable systems that often require bulky external components or large internal canisters, BISC is built around a single, ultra-thin silicon chip. This chip acts as a wireless, high-bandwidth conduit directly connecting the brain to external computing systems. The system’s architecture, detailed in a recent publication in Nature Electronics, comprises the chip-based implant, a wearable external "relay station," and the sophisticated software infrastructure required to operate the platform.

"Most implantable systems are built around a canister of electronics that occupies enormous volumes of space inside the body," explained Ken Shepard, Lau Family Professor of Electrical Engineering, professor of biomedical engineering, and professor of neurological sciences at Columbia University, and a senior author who spearheaded the engineering efforts. "Our implant is a single integrated circuit chip that is so thin that it can slide into the space between the brain and the skull, resting on the brain like a piece of wet tissue paper." This near-invisible integration minimizes the surgical invasiveness and potential for tissue damage, a critical factor for long-term implantation and patient comfort.

The BISC chip is a testament to advanced semiconductor fabrication, leveraging TSMC’s 0.13-μm Bipolar-CMOS-DMOS (BCD) technology. This specialized manufacturing process seamlessly integrates three distinct semiconductor technologies onto a single chip: CMOS for digital logic, bipolar and DMOS transistors for high-current and high-voltage analog functions, and DMOS for power devices. This fusion is essential for BISC’s ability to perform complex tasks, including signal amplification, data conversion, wireless communication, and even stimulation, all within an infinitesimally small footprint.

The implant itself is a marvel of micro-electrocorticography (μECoG) technology. Thinned to an astonishing 50 micrometers, it occupies less than 1/1000th the volume of a standard implant, with a total size of approximately 3 mm³. This flexible chip can conform to the intricate contours of the brain’s surface, ensuring optimal contact and signal acquisition. It boasts an immense density of 65,536 electrodes, enabling the recording of neural activity from a vast number of neurons. Furthermore, it features 1,024 recording channels for capturing brain signals and 16,384 stimulation channels, allowing for precise electrical stimulation of neural circuits. The scalability inherent in its semiconductor manufacturing process makes BISC suitable for mass production, a crucial step towards widespread clinical adoption.

The integrated chip is a powerhouse of functionality, incorporating a radio transceiver, a wireless power circuit, digital control electronics, power management systems, data converters, and the analog components vital for both recording and stimulating neural activity. The external relay station plays a pivotal role, providing both power and high-speed data communication via a custom ultrawideband radio link. This link achieves an astounding throughput of 100 Mbps, a figure that is at least 100 times greater than any other wireless BCI currently available. Operating akin to a standard 802.11 WiFi device, the relay station effectively bridges the implant to any compatible computer, facilitating seamless data exchange and control.

BISC is not merely a hardware innovation; it is complemented by a sophisticated software environment and its own unique instruction set, creating a specialized computing system tailored for brain interfaces. The high-bandwidth recording capabilities demonstrated by BISC are crucial for processing brain signals using advanced machine-learning and deep-learning algorithms. These algorithms can then interpret complex neural patterns, enabling the decoding of intentions, perceptual experiences, and brain states with remarkable accuracy.

"By integrating everything on one piece of silicon, we’ve shown how brain interfaces can become smaller, safer, and dramatically more powerful," emphasized Shepard. This integration minimizes the need for external wiring and bulky internal components, thereby reducing the risk of infection, tissue damage, and signal interference.

The potential clinical applications of BISC are vast and deeply impactful. Andreas S. Tolias, PhD, professor at the Byers Eye Institute at Stanford University and co-founding director of the Enigma Project, who collaborated closely with Shepard, highlighted BISC’s transformative potential. "BISC turns the cortical surface into an effective portal, delivering high-bandwidth, minimally invasive read-write communication with AI and external devices," Tolias stated. "Its single-chip scalability paves the way for adaptive neuroprosthetics and brain-AI interfaces to treat many neuropsychiatric disorders, such as epilepsy." His extensive experience in training AI systems on large-scale neural recordings, including those gathered with BISC, was instrumental in evaluating the implant’s ability to decode brain activity.

Dr. Brett Youngerman, assistant professor of neurological surgery at Columbia University and a neurosurgeon at NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia University Irving Medical Center, served as the project’s primary clinical collaborator. "This high-resolution, high-data-throughput device has the potential to revolutionize the management of neurological conditions from epilepsy to paralysis," he asserted. Youngerman, Shepard, and Dr. Catherine Schevon, an epilepsy neurologist at NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia, have already secured a National Institutes of Health grant to investigate BISC’s efficacy in treating drug-resistant epilepsy. "The key to effective brain-computer interface devices is to maximize the information flow to and from the brain, while making the device as minimally invasive in its surgical implantation as possible. BISC surpasses previous technology on both fronts," Youngerman added.

The transition from laboratory innovation to real-world medical application is a critical phase, and Shepard’s team has proactively engaged with Youngerman’s clinical expertise. They have developed and refined surgical procedures for safely implanting the thin BISC device in preclinical models, demonstrating its ability to produce high-quality, stable neural recordings. Initial short-term intraoperative studies in human patients are already underway, providing invaluable real-world performance data.

"These initial studies give us invaluable data about how the device performs in a real surgical setting," Youngerman commented. "The implants can be inserted through a minimally invasive incision in the skull and slid directly onto the surface of the brain in the subdural space. The paper-thin form factor and lack of brain-penetrating electrodes or wires tethering the implant to the skull minimize tissue reactivity and signal degradation over time."

Extensive preclinical research, particularly in the motor and visual cortices, was conducted in collaboration with Dr. Tolias and Bijan Pesaran, professor of neurosurgery at the University of Pennsylvania, both renowned figures in computational and systems neuroscience. Pesaran remarked on the significance of BISC’s miniaturization, stating, "The extreme miniaturization by BISC is very exciting as a platform for new generations of implantable technologies that also interface with the brain with other modalities such as light and sound."

The development of BISC was fostered through the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s (DARPA) Neural Engineering System Design program, drawing upon Columbia’s established strengths in microelectronics, Stanford and Penn’s advanced neuroscience programs, and the surgical prowess of NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia University Irving Medical Center.

To accelerate the technology’s journey toward commercial viability, researchers from Columbia and Stanford have established Kampto Neurotech, a startup founded by Dr. Nanyu Zeng, an alumnus of Columbia’s electrical engineering program and a lead engineer on the BISC project. Kampto Neurotech is currently producing research-ready versions of the chip and actively seeking funding to prepare the system for human clinical trials. "This is a fundamentally different way of building BCI devices," Zeng stated. "In this way, BISC has technological capabilities that exceed those of competing devices by many orders of magnitude."

As artificial intelligence continues its rapid evolution, BCIs are emerging as a critical technology, not only for restoring lost functions in individuals with neurological disorders but also for potentially enhancing normal human capabilities through direct brain-to-computer communication. Shepard envisions a future where BISC plays a central role: "By combining ultra-high resolution neural recording with fully wireless operation, and pairing that with advanced decoding and stimulation algorithms, we are moving toward a future where the brain and AI systems can interact seamlessly — not just for research, but for human benefit," he concluded. "This could change how we treat brain disorders, how we interface with machines, and ultimately how humans engage with AI." The advent of BISC marks a pivotal moment, ushering in an era where the boundaries between the human brain and artificial intelligence are poised to become more fluid and collaborative than ever before.