Device implantation using a cartridge

A system and method for implanting devices into biological tissue (e.g., brain tissue). The system may include a biocompatible probe, an integrated circuit (IC) chip tethered to the probe, a cartridge comprising a temporary attachment surface by which the probe is removably coupled to the cartridge and a fastener for removably coupling the IC chip to the cartridge, a needle to reversibly engage with the probe, a robotic arm to hold the needle, a camera, and a microprocessor controller. The microprocessor controller may control the robotic arm and the needle using the to remove the probe from the temporary attachment surface using the needle, pierce the biological tissue with the needle and the probe, withdraw the needle while leaving the probe within the biological tissue; and detach the IC chip from the cartridge, leaving the IC chip with the biological tissue, the IC chip still tethered to the probe.

The abstract as published by the patent office, from US2020086111A1. It describes the invention; it is not a statement of what is protected.

• Surgical access

  Insertion tools and robots · Surgical planning and procedure

• Interface and electrodes

  Electrodes and arrays

• Implant electronics

  Chips and on-implant computing

• Telemetry

  Wireless telemetry

What the filing appears to be about, read by published rules from its title, abstract and classification codes (A61B17/3403, A61B17/3468, A61B2017/00026, A61B2017/00477, A61B2017/3407). 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.

Implant electronics

An implant has room for very little, so functions that fill a rack in the laboratory have to fit on a chip. The problem behind it: fitting channel count, computing and safety functions into a volume and a heat budget the body accepts.

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 13 times in 7 offices. Each publication opens in Espacenet.

• CanadaCA3112875A119 Mar 2020CA3112875C15 Aug 2023 · grant
• United StatesUS2020086111A119 Mar 2020US11103695B231 Aug 2021 · grantUS2021346687A111 Nov 2021US11925800B212 Mar 2024 · grant
• International (PCT)a route to several countries, not a countryWO2020056169A119 Mar 2020
• AustraliaAU2019338462A129 Apr 2021
• European Patent Officea route to several countries, not a countryEP3849656A121 Jul 2021EP3849656A427 Apr 2022
• South KoreaKR20210127912A25 Oct 2021
• JapanJP2022500215A4 Jan 2022JP7278387B219 May 2023 · grant

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. 17 Sep 2019Owner recordedUnited States, on US2020086111A1: assignment; owner named: NEURALINK CORP., CALIFORNIA.
4. 19 Mar 2020First publicationCA3112875A1, Canada.
5. 28 Jun 2021ApplicationFiled at United States.
6. 8 Nov 2022Office recordJapan, on JP2022500215A: decision of refusal.
7. 7 Apr 2023Office recordSouth Korea, on KR20210127912A: notification of reason for refusal.
8. 19 May 2023Grant publishedJP7278387B2, Japan.
9. 15 Aug 2023Grant publishedCA3112875C, Canada.
10. 14 Sep 2023Office recordAustralia, on AU2019338462A1: application lapsed section 142(2)(a) - no request for examination in relevant period.
11. 12 Mar 2024Grant publishedUS11925800B2, United States.
12. 13 Mar 2026Office recordInternational (PCT), on WO2020056169A1: wipo information: withdrawn in national office.

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

Use case

Motor control

• 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: US2020086111A1 in Espacenet
• Counted as a BCI patent family: classified A61N1/0531 (brain cortex electrodes); 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