Background

Benjamin Rapoport is a Mount Sinai neurosurgeon and early Neuralink co-founder who established Precision Neuroscience in 2021 after departing Neuralink to pursue a distinct technological vision. He co-founded Precision with Michael Mager, Demetrios Papageorgiou, and Mark Hettick.

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 without drilling into cortical tissue. The thin-film array conforms to the brain’s surface and is approximately one-fifth the thickness of a 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

Precision Neuroscience received FDA 510(k) clearance in April 2025 (FDA decision dated 30 March 2025, K242618), authorising the Layer 7 array for commercial use in recording, monitoring, and stimulating on the brain’s surface for implantation durations of up to 30 days. The device was cleared under the existing cortical electrode classification (product code GYC).