Company profileBidirectional BCI
CorTec
A fully implanted closed-loop system that both records from and stimulates the cortical surface.
- Location
- Freiburg, Germany
- Founded
- 2010
- Class
- Bidirectional BCI
- Website
- cortec-neuro.com
- Sources last checked
- 3 Oct 2026
What they are building
Develops Brain Interchange, a wireless, battery-free bidirectional implant with non-penetrating surface electrodes.
- Interface category
- Electrocorticography · ECoG, recording and stimulating
- Signal
- ECoG: Local field potentials, including high-gamma activityECoG + stim: Field potentials out; electrical pulses in
- Invasiveness
- Invasive
- Recording / stimulation
- Recording and stimulation
- Device
- Brain Interchange — Fully implanted, wireless, battery-free system with cortical surface electrodes
- Regulatory status
- Investigational; two FDA Breakthrough Device designations
- Main use cases
- Restore, Control
- Works with
- University of Washington
Where they are clinically
First-in-human
The first use of a device in a small number of people, focused on safety.
Access today
Clinical study
Accessible only by enrolling in a registered clinical study.
- Shown in people
- Three stroke participants implanted with a wireless closed-loop cortical system, as reported in September 2026. No clinical result is published.
- Still an aim
- Motor rehabilitation after stroke and communication in quadriplegia, the two uses its FDA Breakthrough designations name.
- What stands in the way
- Evidence of benefit: its first study plans four participants.
On record here: 2 registered studies · 5 participants planned or enrolled · 0 peer-reviewed papers
This technology remains experimental and is not an established treatment. Access is limited to registered clinical studies.
- 18 Sep 2026US FDA — Breakthrough Device designation. A designation speeds interaction with the regulator. It is not a clearance or approval.
- 8 Apr 2026US FDA — Breakthrough Device designation. A designation speeds interaction with the regulator. It is not a clearance or approval.
Why this company matters
CorTec is the clearest European example of a bidirectional, closed-loop platform reaching people. Stroke rehabilitation is a far larger indication than paralysis from ALS or spinal cord injury, which makes the Seattle study strategically important well beyond its four planned participants. No clinical result has been published; what is on record is that three people have been implanted.
Key milestones
18 Sep 2026
Second Breakthrough designation, for communication in non-progressive quadriplegia; three stroke participants implanted to date.
8 Apr 2026
FDA Breakthrough Device designation for stroke motor rehabilitation.
22 Jul 2025
University of Washington stroke-rehabilitation study using Brain Interchange begins.
Clinical programmes
- INTENSE-BCI
Planned communication study using a fully implanted surface-electrode system.
First-in-humanRecruiting
1 estimatedNCT07640711
- MRPICS
Closed-loop cortical stimulation for motor recovery after stroke, using Brain Interchange.
First-in-humanRecruiting
4 estimatedNCT06506279
IP and patents
Filings touch 5 of the 11 layers, most often interface and electrodes (18 of 27 families) and stimulation (14).
- 27
- patent families identified and counted as BCI
- 2006
- earliest first filing among them
- 3
- first filed since 2021; the latest years are incomplete
- 24 of 27
- include a granted member, of those whose family record was read
Across the stack: families by layer
Themes, by number of families: electrodes and arrays (17), stimulation (14), peripheral interfaces (10), packaging and hermeticity (8), wireless power (7), wireless telemetry (6). A family can carry several.
Published in: United States (22), Germany (18), China (15), Australia (5), Japan (4), counted over the 27 families whose full record was read.
Representative families
- Nerve implant with protective structurefirst filed 2022 · Electrodes and arrays, Wireless power, Wireless telemetryGranted · DE, US
- Stoßschutz für hermetisch dichtes Implantatfirst filed 2022 · Packaging and hermeticity, Connectors and feedthroughs, Wireless powerGranted · EP
- Adaptive Tiefenhirnstimulation des superolateralen medialen Vorderhirnbündelsfirst filed 2019 · Electrodes and arrays, Packaging and hermeticity, Wireless powerGranted · CN, US
- Elastic neural electrode and method for fabricating the samefirst filed 2016 · Electrodes and arrays, Materials and coatings, Peripheral interfacesGranted · CN, EP, JP, US
- Implantierbare Manschettenelektrodefirst filed 2016 · Electrodes and arrays, Peripheral interfaces, StimulationGranted · CN, EP, US
- System and method for neurostimulationfirst filed 2015 · Packaging and hermeticity, Wireless telemetry, StimulationGranted · EP, US
21 more families counted
- Neuroimplant with data rate-reduction sectionfirst filed 2022 · Electrodes and arrays, Signal acquisition, Signal processingApplication
- Implantable electrode device and method of forming an implantable electrode devicefirst filed 2020 · Electrodes and arrays, Peripheral interfaces, Wireless telemetryGranted · EP, US
- Implantable array with a reference structure and method of manufacturing the samefirst filed 2019 · Electrodes and arraysGranted · EP
- Implantable array with a reference structure and a method of imaging the samefirst filed 2019Granted · CN, EP, US
- Implantierbare Gehirn-Maschine-Schnittstellefirst filed 2019 · Electrodes and arrays, Wireless telemetry, StimulationApplication
- Flexible neural electrode arrayfirst filed 2017 · Electrodes and arrays, Peripheral interfacesGranted · US
- Verfahren und System zum Verarbeiten von Datenströmenfirst filed 2015 · StimulationGranted · CN, DE, EP, US
- Implantable electrode arrayfirst filed 2014 · Electrodes and arrays, Peripheral interfacesGranted · US
- Implantable plug connectorfirst filed 2014 · Electrodes and arrays, Packaging and hermeticity, Connectors and feedthroughsGranted · CN, EP, US
- Haltevorrichtung für körperexterne Transmittereinheitfirst filed 2013 · Packaging and hermeticity, Wireless power, StimulationApplication
- Medical implant as well as method for the production thereoffirst filed 2012 · Packaging and hermeticity, Wireless power, Wireless telemetryGranted · EP, US
- Sensoreinrichtung zur Detektion bioelektrischer Signalefirst filed 2012 · Signal acquisition, Wireless powerGranted · EP, US
- Verfahren, Datenbank und Signalverarbeitungseinrichtung zur Rekonstruktion von Repräsentationen neuronaler Signalefirst filed 2012Granted · EP, US
- Implantable nerve electrode and method for producing an implantable nerve electrodefirst filed 2011 · Electrodes and arrays, Peripheral interfaces, Connectors and feedthroughsGranted · CN, DE, EP, US
- Neural electrode and method for fabricating the samefirst filed 2011 · Electrodes and arrays, Peripheral interfacesGranted · CN, EP, US
- Selection circuit for an electrode assembly and method for operating an electrode assemblyfirst filed 2010 · Electrodes and arrays, Peripheral interfaces, Signal acquisitionGranted · EP
- BCI device for use in stroke rehabilitationfirst filed 2010 · Electrodes and arrays, Stimulation, Assistive and control applicationsGranted · EP, US
- Method for producing an electrode structure and electrode structure for a neuronal interfacefirst filed 2010 · Electrodes and arraysGranted · DE, EP
- Method and Device for Computer-Aided Prediction of Intended Movementsfirst filed 2007Granted · EP, US
- Vorrichtung und Verfahren zur Echtzeit-Ansteuerung eines Effektorsfirst filed 2006 · Peripheral interfaces, Motor decoding, StimulationGranted · DE
- Probe for data transmission between a brain and a data processing devicefirst filed 2006 · Electrodes and arrays, Peripheral interfaces, Packaging and hermeticityGranted · CN, DE, EP, JP
Families found for CorTec in the EPO’s worldwide database, grouped so that one invention counts once. A filing shows what a company sought to protect. It does not show that the technology was built, is in a product, or works in people, and themes are read from titles, abstracts and classes, not from the claims. How to read this
Competitive context
ECoGApproved / cleared
Precision Neuroscience
A thin-film cortical surface array that slides under the skull through a narrow slit.
ECoGFirst-in-human
INBRAIN Neuroelectronics
Graphene-based cortical interfaces for high-resolution recording and stimulation.
ECoGFeasibility
ONWARD Medical
Spinal cord stimulation therapies, with a brain–spine interface in development.
Latest BCI Briefing coverage
Clinical · 20 Aug 2026
A European implant sends brain data out by light
Sources
- 01
Independent reportingRobotics & Automation News18 Sep 2026Checked against source 3 Oct 2026
- 02
Company reportedCorTec press release (GlobeNewswire)8 Apr 2026Source identified, not opened
- 03
ClinicalTrials.gov NCT06506279 (opens in a new tab)
Clinical registryClinicalTrials.gov13 Apr 2026Checked against source 3 Oct 2026
Registry record last updated 2026-04-13.