Bridge Neurotech emerged from stealth this week with the goal of building a completely non-invasive brain-computer interface (BCI)
The company was founded by Will Biederman, who previously served as the research lead for health sensors at Google Health before the Fitbit acquisition. He also formerly led Verily's development program for the Dexcom G7 continuous glucose monitor.
Now he's turned his attention to the BCI market, where early entrants like Elon Musk's Neuralink have already made substantial progress with human trials. And his company has tapped Butterfly Network's ultrasound tech as a key building block.
“We started Bridge because we believe the pieces are finally in place to make a non-invasive brain-computer interface possible, and ultrasound is central to that opportunity,” said Biederman in a statement. “Butterfly has already brought ultrasound onto a fully integrated semiconductor chip, giving us a powerful and programmable foundation as we work toward real-time, non-invasive interaction with the brain.”
Bridge will license Butterfly’s "Ultrasound-on-Chip" technology for its exploration of non-surgical BCIs. The multi-year agreement includes payments to Butterfly for technology access and development milestones, as well as commitments to purchase Butterfly hardware.
“The BCI category holds enormous potential, from treating serious conditions to expanding human capabilities,” said Butterfly Network CEO Joseph DeVivo in a statement. “One of the most fundamental challenges will be expanding that potential to the masses. Innovators like Bridge are exploring surgery-free approaches to broaden access, and we’re proud our Ultrasound-on-Chip technology can help advance that pursuit."
Bridge said its founding mission is to "make BCIs possible without brain surgery or implants." The company believes recent advances will allow it to use ultrasound to image and decode brain activity through the skull, with the potential to restore function and expand human capabilities. As part of its emergence from stealth, Bridge also announced its first human research study and is now enrolling participants.
