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The BCI Briefing

Patent familyBCI, high confidence

Syringe-injection-type brain signal measurement and stimulation structure, and syringe injection method therefor

Filed by Gbrain, Univ Incheon Ind Acad Coop, Univ Yonsei Iacf and Gbrain Inc, first in 2020.

Granted · EP, JP, KRView in Espacenet
Earliest priority
20 Apr 2020 · South Korea
Status
A grant was published in European Patent Office, Japan, South Korea, first on 21 Feb 2023
Published in
South Korea · International (PCT) · European Patent Office · United States · Japan
Registered as
Gbrain Inc. · GBRAIN INC · 주식회사 지브레인 · ジーブレイン インコーポレイテッド · 연세대학교 산학협력단
Inventors
Yang, Sung Gu · Lee, Sang Won · Park, Sung Won · Ahn, Jong Hyun · Chae, Young Cheol · Kim, Je Jung · and 6 more
Family
DOCDB 78232786 · 14 publications

What it concerns

The present invention relates to a syringe-injection-type brain signal measurement and stimulation structure, and a syringe injection method therefor, and provides a structure including a high-performance flexible element capable of minimizing a skull opening when inserted into the brain. Particularly, the present invention comprises: a flexible element, which includes a contact part making contact with a surface of a cortex so as to measure a signal generated in the brain or transmit an external stimulus to the brain, a transmitting/receiving part positioned between a skull and a skin, and a connection part for making a connection between the contact part and the transmitting/receiving part; and an integrated circuit connected to the transmitting/receiving part so as to transmit/receive a signal, wherein the flexible element includes a lower support substrate, a graphene electrode layer and a wiring layer formed on the lower support substrate, and an insulation layer formed on the graphene electrode layer and the wiring layer, the insulation layer is etched so that the graphene electrode layer is partially exposed, and a part of the graphene electrode layer and a part of the wiring layer are adjacently connected.

The abstract as published by the patent office, from US2022409049A1. It describes the invention; it is not a statement of what is protected.

Protection themes

  • Interface and electrodes

    Electrodes and arrays · Materials and coatings

  • Telemetry

    Wireless telemetry

  • Stimulation

    Stimulation · Closed loop

What the filing appears to be about, read by published rules from its title, abstract and classification codes (A61B2503/40, A61B2562/0209, A61B2562/125, A61B5/0002, A61B5/0031). The claims define what a patent protects, and they are not read here.

Why it matters

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.
Telemetry
Thousands of channels produce more data than a low-power radio can carry raw, so what is sent, and how, decides what the system can use. The problem behind it: high data rates at low power through tissue, reliably and securely.
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

The family

One invention, published 14 times in 5 offices. Each publication opens in Espacenet.

Timeline

  1. 20 Apr 2020First filingEarliest priority, at South Korea. The family is counted in this year.
  2. 26 Mar 2021ApplicationFiled at South Korea.
  3. 29 Mar 2021ApplicationsFiled at International (PCT), European Patent Office, United States, Japan.
  4. 28 Oct 2021First publicationKR20210129588A, South Korea.
  5. 19 May 2022Owner recordedUnited States, on US2022409049A1: assignment; owner named: GBRAIN INC., KOREA, REPUBLIC OF.
  6. 7 Feb 2023ApplicationFiled at South Korea.
  7. 8 Feb 2023ApplicationFiled at United States.
  8. 16 Mar 2023Office recordSouth Korea, on KR20230025820A: notification of reason for refusal.
  9. 26 Sep 2023Office recordJapan, on JP2023516826A: notification of reasons for refusal.
  10. 1 Nov 2023Grant publishedKR102594605B1, South Korea.
  11. 26 Jun 2024Grant publishedJP7506293B2, Japan.
  12. 9 Oct 2024Grant publishedEP4049589B1, European Patent Office.
  13. 9 Sep 2026Office recordEuropean Patent Office, on EP4049589A1: lapsed in a contracting state [announced via postgrant information from national office to epo] (CH, CY, CZ, ES, GB, GR, HR, HU, IE, IS, MC, NO, PL, RS, SK, SM, TR).

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.

Sources

  • 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: US2022409049A1 in Espacenet
  • Counted as a BCI patent family: uses the field's wording; classified A61B5/293 (invasive electrodes for brain recording); filed by 주식회사 지브레인, 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