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Synchron reached human implantation before Neuralink. The neurotechnology startup announced its first successful Stentrode implant in an Australian feasibility trial on September 20, 2019. Neuralink received FDA authorization for its first-in-human study in May 2023, began recruiting for its PRIME Study in September 2023, and announced its first human implant in January 2024.
What “beat Neuralink to human studies” means
The comparison is about when each company first implanted its device in a person as part of clinical research. Synchron’s 2019 announcement came more than four years before Neuralink announced its first human implant. It does not mean Synchron had completed a definitive trial, received marketing approval, or proved its system more effective.
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Other neurotechnology companies also began human work on different timelines. Precision Neuroscience announced first-in-human pilot procedures in June 2023, focused on mapping brain activity during neurosurgery. That was a separate pilot with a different purpose from Synchron’s feasibility work and Neuralink’s PRIME Study.
How the milestones compare
| Company and system | Human-study milestone | Implant approach | Study purpose |
|---|---|---|---|
| Synchron, Stentrode | Synchron announced a successful clinical implantation in Australia on September 20, 2019. Its first U.S. implant in the COMMAND study was performed in July 2022, according to Mount Sinai. | Delivered through a blood vessel via a jugular-vein route; the device is placed in a vein alongside the motor cortex. Synchron describes the procedure as avoiding open brain surgery. | Early feasibility work examined safety, signal stability, and digital communication for people with severe paralysis. The U.S. COMMAND study evaluated safety and hands-free control of digital devices. |
| Neuralink, PRIME Study device | Neuralink says the FDA approved its first-in-human study in May 2023 and recruitment began in September 2023. The company announced its first human implant in January 2024. | Surgically implanted, using a surgical robot. | Evaluates the safety of the implant and surgical robot, plus initial functionality for controlling external devices by thought. The study is for people with quadriplegia. |
| Precision Neuroscience, system not named in the cited milestone | Precision announced first-in-human pilot procedures with WVU’s Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute in June 2023. | Not stated in the cited announcement. | Mapped human brain activity at high resolution during neurosurgery. |
Why Synchron got to implantation sooner
Synchron’s Stentrode is delivered through blood vessels rather than through open-skull surgery. The route offers a plausible reason the company could begin human implantation earlier: it avoids cutting through the skull to place the device. But the available milestones do not establish that the less invasive route was the sole reason for Synchron’s head start; companies also differ in their devices, study designs, preparation, and regulatory pathways.
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“Less invasive” does not mean non-invasive. Stentrode implantation is still a clinical procedure that places an implant in a blood vessel in the brain. Neuralink’s PRIME approach, by contrast, involves surgical implantation and a robot.
What the dates do—and do not—show
Human implantation is not the same as approval to sell
Synchron’s FDA Investigational Device Exemption authorization, announced in 2021, enabled U.S. in-human trials. It is not the same as FDA marketing approval. Similarly, Neuralink’s May 2023 FDA milestone was approval to launch its first-in-human study, not approval for general clinical use or consumer purchase.
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Early studies answer different questions
Synchron’s feasibility and COMMAND work investigated safety and whether participants could use brain signals to communicate or control digital devices. Neuralink’s PRIME Study assesses safety and initial device function. Precision’s pilot investigated brain-activity mapping during neurosurgery. These differing aims mean the dates alone cannot support a ranking of performance or clinical benefit.
Study populations and settings matter
The cited milestones place Synchron’s first implantation in Australia, its first U.S. COMMAND implantation in July 2022, Neuralink’s PRIME Study among people with quadriplegia, and Precision’s pilot in a neurosurgical setting. They are not interchangeable trials, and the information here does not establish a like-for-like comparison of outcomes.
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The short timeline
- September 20, 2019: Synchron announces a successful Stentrode implantation in an Australian feasibility trial.
- 2021: Synchron announces FDA Investigational Device Exemption authorization for U.S. in-human trials.
- July 2022: Mount Sinai reports the first U.S. Stentrode implant in the COMMAND study.
- May 2023: Neuralink says the FDA approved its first-in-human study.
- June 2023: Precision Neuroscience announces first-in-human pilot procedures.
- September 2023: Neuralink says recruitment began for the PRIME Study.
- January 2024: Neuralink announces its first human implant.
Why the milestone matters
Synchron’s lead shows that Neuralink was not the first company in this comparison to implant a brain-computer interface in a human study. It also highlights a meaningful design difference: Synchron pursued a blood-vessel delivery route, while Neuralink’s PRIME system uses surgical implantation and a robot. The chronology is evidence of who reached a particular research milestone first—not proof that one company has the better device, stronger results, or a product available to the public.
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