Background

Benjamin Rapoport is a neurosurgeon and early Neuralink co-founder who established Precision Neuroscience in 2022 after departing Neuralink to pursue a distinct technological vision. His clinical neurosurgery expertise and experience with high-volume implantation procedures uniquely qualify him to design practical surgical approaches to brain-computer interfaces.

Layer 7 Design Philosophy

Rapoport developed the Layer 7 Cortical Interface based on a conviction that surface-array approaches offer superior biocompatibility compared to penetrating electrodes. The design emphasizes minimal surgical trauma, positioning electrodes on the brain’s surface rather than drilling into cortical tissue. Individual electrodes are engineered to remarkable thinness (one-fifth the width of human hair) while maintaining 1,024-channel recording capability.

Surgical Innovation

His design reflects deep understanding of chronic implant pathology, particularly the foreign-body response and glial scarring that degrade signal quality over years. By eliminating cortical penetration, the Layer 7 approach addresses a fundamental limitation of Utah Array-based systems used in competing BCIs.

FDA Milestone

Rapoport led Precision Neuroscience to FDA 510(k) clearance in April 2025, establishing regulatory precedent for surface-array BCIs as a distinct device category. This clearance validates his alternative approach within the regulatory framework.