Paradromics implants its first trial participant with the Connexus speech BCI
Surgeons at University of Michigan Health implanted the wireless device in a woman with motor neuron disease, starting the six-year Connect-One study.
Paradromics and University of Michigan Health have completed the first implantation in the company’s FDA-approved Connect-One early feasibility study. Neurosurgeons Matthew Willsey and Aditya Pandey placed the Connexus device in a Michigan woman whose ability to speak has been affected by motor neuron disease.
The device
Connexus combines a high-density microelectrode array in the brain with a transceiver placed in the chest. Signals are sent wirelessly through the skin to an external receiver, where software decodes them. The goal is to restore speech and computer control for people with severe motor impairment.
The study
The FDA approved Connect-One in November 2025 (our coverage). It will follow participants for six years, focusing on long-term safety, with sites at the University of Michigan, UC Davis and Massachusetts General Hospital.
Why it matters
Paradromics now joins Neuralink, Synchron and Precision Neuroscience in testing a long-term BCI in people. Its design emphasizes data bandwidth, recording many individual neurons, which may matter most for decoding natural speech.
Learn more: Speech neuroprosthesis · Clinical trial pathway · Paradromics in the Directory