Additionally, Australia is host to one of the top five
BCI companies by total investment. As of 2021,
NeuroTech Analytics placed Synchron as the second
largest by total investment at $130 million USD –
behind only Neuralink at $363 million USD.19
Synchron works on implantable BCI devices,
and is an endovascular BCI leader.20 Synchron is
developing the ‘Stentrode’ which can be inserted
into the brain via blood vessels and used for
controlling computers and treating neurological
disorders such as paralysis.21
In July 2022, Synchron was the first company to
utilise an endovascular BCI approach in the US after
successful implantation. This will have significant
implications for the scalability of neurotechnology as
this approach does not require open‑brain surgery.22
Beyond Synchron, there are also a dozen other
private sector companies in Australia that have
been identified as operating in the neurotechnology
sector, with Australia being placed in the top 10
countries world‑wide in terms of the number of
neurotechnology organisations.23
Despite the success of Australia’s neurotechnology
industry and the current proposals to establish
an Australian Brain Initiative, there has been no
Australian institutional responses to the human
rights implications of neurotechnologies.24
This has led to direct criticism of Australia’s
responses to human rights and neurotechnology
as being under‑theorised. It has also been noted
that Australia lacks a sufficient response from
the appropriate regulatory or human rights
institutions on how to mitigate the potential
harms of neurotechnologies.25
1.1 Definitions
Neurotechnologies
This background paper adopts the following
definition of neurotechnologies:
… those devices and procedures used to access,
monitor, investigate, assess, manipulate and/or
emulate the structure and function of the neural
systems of natural persons.26 They are meant
to either record signals from the brain and
‘translate’ them into technical control commands,
or to manipulate brain activity by applying
electrical or optical stimuli.27
Broadly speaking, there are three central types of
neurotechnology:
devices which monitor brain activity
devices which intervene in brain activity
devices which are a combination of the preceding
two types. 28
Brain‑computer interfaces
At the core of neurotechnologies are BCIs.29 BCIs
are devices which connect an individual’s brain to a
computer or device (e.g. a smartphone, computer
etc.) external to the human body. BCIs facilitate
bi‑directional communication between the brain
and an external device – either transmitting neural
data or possibly altering neural activity.30 This can
operate either by implantation inside of a person’s
skull or via a non‑implantable wearable device.31
A non‑implantable BCI will generally sit on an
individual’s head – often in the form of wearable
technology, such as helmets, glasses and
wristbands. It is these less invasive wearable
BCIs which currently dominate the consumer
neurotechnology market.32
Such technology may assist people with
expressive or communicative disabilities to better
communicate by decoding images in a person’s
mind.33 These devices have already been used to
successfully share images and words between
people in different rooms via non‑implantable
BCI devices – enabling individuals to effectively
exchange thoughts.34
6
Protecting Cognition: Background Paper on Human Rights and Neurotechnology