Electrode fabrication and design

Disclosed are biocompatible multi-electrode devices capable of being implanted in sensitive tissue, such as the brain, and methods for fabricating such arrays. The disclosed arrays can be implanted in living biological tissue with a single needle insertion. The devices can include linear arrays with contacts along an edge, linear arrays with multiple electrodes per opening in a parylene support layer, multi-thread electrode arrays, tree-like electrode arrays, and combinations thereof. In an embodiment, a compliant electrode apparatus can comprise a biocompatible and bio-implantable compliant dielectric having a top edge defined by a top and a side along a length of the dielectric, insulated electrical traces oriented along the length of the dielectric, and electrode contacts coupled to the traces and situated on the side along the length of the dielectric, wherein an exposed portion of a respective electrode contact protrudes beyond the top edge of the dielectric.

The abstract as published by the patent office, from US2020085375A1. It describes the invention; it is not a statement of what is protected.

• Surgical access

  Insertion tools and robots

• Interface and electrodes

  Electrodes and arrays

• Stimulation

  Stimulation

What the filing appears to be about, read by published rules from its title, abstract and classification codes (A61B2562/043, A61B2562/125, A61B2562/164, A61B5/263, A61B5/293). The claims define what a patent protects, and they are not read here.

Surgical access

A probe soft enough for the brain to tolerate is too soft to push in by hand, and each route into the head has its own risk. The problem behind it: placing many contacts exactly, without injuring tissue or vessels, in an operation short and repeatable enough to offer widely.

Interface and electrodes

Everything downstream works with what the contacts pick up. Their number, size and distance from the neurons set the ceiling on the signal. The problem behind it: more contacts, closer to neurons, that still record after years in tissue that reacts to them.

Stimulation

Restoring sensation, sight or movement needs information going in, and a therapy that adapts needs to sense and stimulate at once. The problem behind it: evoking a precise, stable effect without damaging tissue or electrodes, and without blinding the recording.

Why the layer matters to the field, not a judgement of this filing. A patent family shows that protection was sought. It does not show that the technology was built, is used in a product, or works in people. The whole stack

One invention, published 9 times in 7 offices. Each publication opens in Espacenet.

• CanadaCA3112743A119 Mar 2020
• United StatesUS2020085375A119 Mar 2020US12539083B23 Feb 2026 · grant
• International (PCT)a route to several countries, not a countryWO2020056187A119 Mar 2020
• AustraliaAU2019338468A16 May 2021
• European Patent Officea route to several countries, not a countryEP3849655A121 Jul 2021EP3849655A427 Jul 2022
• South KoreaKR20210127692A22 Oct 2021
• JapanJP2022501161A6 Jan 2022

1. 14 Sep 2018First filingEarliest priority, at United States. The family is counted in this year.
2. 12 Sep 2019ApplicationsFiled at Canada, United States, International (PCT), Australia, European Patent Office, South Korea, Japan.
3. 16 Sep 2019Owner recordedUnited States, on US2020085375A1: assignment; owner named: NEURALINK CORP., CALIFORNIA.
4. 19 Mar 2020First publicationCA3112743A1, Canada.
5. 14 Sep 2023Office recordAustralia, on AU2019338468A1: application lapsed section 142(2)(a) - no request for examination in relevant period.
6. 1 Oct 2024Office recordJapan, on JP2022501161A: decision of refusal.
7. 24 Mar 2025Office recordSouth Korea, on KR20210127692A: decision to refuse application.
8. 3 Feb 2026Grant publishedUS12539083B2, United States.
9. 13 Mar 2026Office recordInternational (PCT), on WO2020056187A1: wipo information: withdrawn in national office.
10. 30 Mar 2026Office recordCanada, on CA3112743A1: application deemed to be withdrawn, abandoned or lapsed.

Dates as the offices published them. Office records are in the offices' own words and are a selection: refusals, lapses and withdrawals, and records that name an owner. Each concerns one member of the family, not the family as a whole, and another member in the same office may stand. Whether a patent is in force today is not assessed.

Organisation

Neuralink · 31 families identified

• Bibliographic data, family members and office records: European Patent Office, Open Patent Services (the DOCDB and INPADOC databases), read 7 Oct 2026.
• The record itself, with its claims and description: US2020085375A1 in Espacenet
• Counted as a BCI patent family: classified A61B5/293 (invasive electrodes for brain recording); filed by 뉴럴링크 코포레이션, an organisation already in the graph; describes neural hardware or methods without naming the field; cites a family already accepted. How families are found and judged