Thursday, September 10, 2026
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Tag: epicortical

3 articles

Industry News

CorTec wins a second FDA Breakthrough Device Designation for its Brain Interchange implant, this one for communication

German BCI operator CorTec GmbH announced on 31 August 2026 that FDA has granted a second Breakthrough Device Designation for its Brain Interchange implant, covering computer cursor control for people with non-progressive quadriplegia. The company's first Breakthrough Designation, in April 2026, covered stroke motor rehabilitation. Both designations apply to the same fully implantable, wireless, battery-free, bidirectional closed-loop platform with non-penetrating cortical surface electrodes. CorTec is now running two parallel FDA regulatory processes on identical hardware. The European regulatory route (EMA, CE Mark) is absent from the announcement.

Sep 1

Industry News

ABILITY Neurotech opens Munich intraoperative BCI trial

Geneva-based ABILITY Neurotech has run a first-in-human intraoperative trial of its fully implantable brain-computer interface at TUM University Hospital in Munich, with up to five brain tumour surgery patients recorded over 20 to 30 minute sessions. A chronic ALS implant with UMC Utrecht and TU Graz is scheduled for Q4 2026. The device is an ECoG surface-electrode implant powered inductively through the scalp, using a laser-based optical link to move raw high-bandwidth neural data through intact skin, not an optical neural-sensing BCI.

Aug 22

Market Moves

Weiling Medical raises over RMB 100 million for its surface-electrode brain implant

Shenzhen's Weiling Medical Technology closed a new funding round of over RMB 100 million on 17 August 2026, led by Junzhong Capital with STAR Market-listed Innotek (688253.SH) as core industrial investor via the Jiaxing Innotek Industrial Fund. Weiling develops a fully implantable, flexible thin-film cortical electrode that sits on the cortical surface rather than penetrating brain tissue. A first-in-human implant in Guangdong in mid-June 2026 was reported by the company to restore forearm and wrist movement in the left upper limb of a locked-in syndrome patient.

Aug 20