BCI or brain-computer interfaces have become a practical reality in the United States as Synchron says that they have become the first in the country to implant a brain-computer interface chip in a human patient, Doctors in New York’s Mount Sinai West implanted the company’s Stentrode in the motor cortex of a participant in the COMMAND trial. The trial aims to gauge the usefulness and safety of BCIs for providing hands-free device control to people with severe paralysis.

Surgeons installed the implant using an endovascular procedure that avoids the intrusiveness of open brain surgery by going through the jugular vein. The operation went extremely well, according to them, and the patient returned home 48 hours later according the company. Amidst all of this, there’s also another ongoing Australian tribe that has also proven successful so far, with four patients still safe a year after receiving these implants on their heads.

It might take a very long time before doctors can even offer synchronous BCIs to patients, as the company did receive FDA approval for human trials in July 2021, still expanding the trial as of this writing. Still, the US procedure represents a significant step toward greater autonomy for people with paralysis. Amidst all of this, Neuralink hasn’t even received the FDA’s permission yet for their implants.