Company profileNeural interface
Gbrain지브레인
South Korea's implanted neural-interface company, with a surface array in a first clinical study.
- Location
- Incheon, South Korea
- Class
- Neural interfaceNot counted among core BCI companies.
- Also known as
- GBrain · Phin Array · Phin Stim
- Sources last checked
- 5 Oct 2026
What they are building
Develops Phin Array, a thin electrode array laid on the brain's surface to find where seizures start, and Phin Stim, a wireless implant for recording and stimulation that is in preclinical development.
- Interface category
- Electrocorticography
- Signal
- Local field potentials, including high-gamma activity
- Invasiveness
- Invasive
- Recording / stimulation
- Recording and stimulation
- Main use cases
- Monitor, Restore
Where they are clinically
First-in-human
The first use of a device in a small number of people, focused on safety.
Human use is of Phin Array as a temporary electrode for locating seizures in people with epilepsy, which is not a BCI application. The trial approval and the start of the trial are reported by the company and by Korean trade press; we have found no registry entry and no published result.
Access today
Experimental human research
Demonstrated in a small number of research participants. Not an established treatment.
- Shown in people
- A surface array used as a temporary electrode to locate seizures, in a trial reported by the company and by trade press. We found no registry entry.
- Still an aim
- Phin Stim, a wireless implant for recording and stimulation, which is in preclinical development.
- What stands in the way
- The step from a temporary diagnostic array to a chronic implant.
On record here: 0 peer-reviewed papers
This technology remains experimental and is not an established treatment. Access is limited to registered clinical studies.
Why this company matters
Gbrain is the clearest sign of implanted neural-interface work in South Korea, a country with strong EEG research and electronics manufacturing but few implant programmes. It is at the electrode-validation stage; the step from a temporary recording array to a chronic BCI is the one to watch.
Key milestones
15 Apr 2026
Korean trade press reports that the trial in people with epilepsy is under way, that a Series C round has opened and that the company plans a technology-track listing in 2026.
Dec 2024
South Korea's MFDS approves a clinical trial of Phin Array, according to the company.
Jan 2024
Manufacturing facility receives GMP certification, according to the company.
IP and patents
Filings spread across 6 of the 11 layers, most often interface and electrodes (13 of 13 families) and stimulation (11).
- 13
- patent families identified and counted as BCI
- 2018
- earliest first filing among them
- 9
- first filed since 2021; the latest years are incomplete
- 6 of 13
- 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 (13), stimulation (11), materials and coatings (5), packaging and hermeticity (5), closed loop (5), wireless telemetry (4). A family can carry several.
Published in: South Korea (9), United States (3), Japan (2), counted over the 13 families whose full record was read.
Representative families
- Devices included in a wireless neural interface systemfirst filed 2022 · Electrodes and arrays, Wireless power, Wireless telemetryGranted · KR, US
- Muti Channel Array Element Using Hybrid Graphene Electrode Brain Insertedfirst filed 2021 · Electrodes and arrays, Materials and coatings, StimulationGranted · KR
- Syringe-injection-type brain signal measurement and stimulation structure, and syringe injection method thereforfirst filed 2020 · Electrodes and arrays, Materials and coatings, Wireless telemetryGranted · EP, JP, KR
- Multichannel electrode array for brain map remodelling and apparatus for brain map remodelling using the samefirst filed 2019 · Electrodes and arrays, Materials and coatings, StimulationGranted · KR
- Apparatus for Micro Electrode Array for Neural Signals Measurement and Optical Stimulusfirst filed 2019 · Electrodes and arrays, Optical interfacesGranted · KR
- Graphene bio-device for electrotherapyfirst filed 2018 · Electrodes and arrays, Materials and coatings, StimulationGranted · KR, US
7 more families counted
- Closed loop rehabilitation system using implantable brain-computer interfacefirst filed 2025 · Electrodes and arrays, Packaging and hermeticity, StimulationApplication
- - A Closed-looped rehabilitation system using an implantable brain-computer interfacefirst filed 2025 · Electrodes and arrays, Wireless telemetry, Neural decodingApplication
- Structure for brain signal measurement and electrical stimulation, and system including samefirst filed 2024 · Electrodes and arrays, Packaging and hermeticity, StimulationApplication
- Brain signal measurement and electrical stimulation structure and system thereoffirst filed 2024 · Electrodes and arrays, Packaging and hermeticity, StimulationApplication
- Implantable electroceutical system including cortical electrode and wireless charging devicefirst filed 2023 · Electrodes and arrays, Chips and on-implant computing, Packaging and hermeticityApplication
- Brain cortex electrode array system enhancing insertion featurefirst filed 2023 · Insertion tools and robots, Electrodes and arrays, Packaging and hermeticityApplication
- Multi-channel array element using graphene composite electrode for brain insertionfirst filed 2021 · Insertion tools and robots, Electrodes and arrays, Materials and coatingsApplication
Families found for Gbrain 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
ECoGFirst-in-human
Neurosoft Bioelectronics
Soft, stretchable electrode arrays for the brain surface, tested during surgery in people.
ECoGFirst-in-human
INBRAIN Neuroelectronics
Graphene-based cortical interfaces for high-resolution recording and stimulation.
ECoGPreclinical
JiMED
Japan's wireless implantable BMI, developed toward a first company-sponsored trial in people with ALS.
Sources
- 01
Gbrain company website: development history (opens in a new tab)
Company reportedGbrainChecked against source 4 Oct 2026
Company website, read in machine translation. Lists the certification and trial-approval dates.
- 02
Independent reporting더벨 (The Bell)15 Apr 2026Checked against source 5 Oct 2026
Korean financial trade press, read in machine translation. Describes Phin Array as an electrode for locating seizure onset and Phin Stim as a wireless implant for recording and stimulation, and reports a trial in people with epilepsy, a Series C round and a planned listing. Gives no patient numbers and names no hospital.