Background

Professor Nicholas Opie is a biomedical engineer specialising in neural interfaces based at the University of Melbourne. He serves as Professor and Laboratory Head of the Vascular Bionics Laboratory in the Department of Medicine, where he leads research into minimally invasive brain-computer interface technologies.

Key Contributions

Prof. Opie is the co-inventor of the Stentrode, a stent-like endovascular brain-computer interface that requires only a small neck incision to insert into a blood vessel near the motor cortex. In 2012, he co-founded Synchron with Prof. Oxley to commercialize this technology, making him the founding CTO and Board Member. The Stentrode widens BCI accessibility by eliminating the need for invasive cranial surgery, thereby dramatically reducing surgical risks and recovery times. The device has successfully enabled patients with severe paralysis to communicate and control external devices using their thoughts alone.

Current Work

Prof. Opie continues to lead the Vascular Bionics Laboratory at the University of Melbourne while serving in a leadership capacity at Synchron, which has grown into a major clinical-stage neurotechnology company. Synchron raised a US$200 million Series D in November 2025 and operates research facilities in both Melbourne and New York. The company’s Stentrode technology is advancing through clinical trials, with the goal of providing functional restoration and communication capabilities to individuals with severe motor paralysis, including those with ALS and locked-in syndrome. In May 2026 he joined ASX-listed assistive-technology company Control Bionics as a non-executive director, and he also co-founded Ultra Bionics, which is developing minimally invasive ultrasonic deep-brain neuromodulation.