Paradromics announced on September 14, 2026, that the first participant implanted with its Connexus brain-computer interface has successfully communicated in real time during the Connect-One Early Feasibility Study, moving past scripted tests to answer open-ended questions and chat with family on a live phone call.
A Michigan woman in her sixties living with a progressive motor neuron disease has become the first participant to use the Connexus BCI for unscripted, real-time speech and text communication. The milestone, announced by neurotechnology firm Paradromics, took place during the FDA-approved Connect-One Early Feasibility Study under an Investigational Device Exemption.
Unlike previous clinical tests that relied on researcher-selected copy tasks, the participant was able to answer open-ended questions, chat with her grandchildren during a live phone call, and generate complete sentences entirely from her own intent. The system closes a neural loop, decoding brain activity associated with speech and instantly returning it to the user as both synthesized speech and readable text.
Inside the Connect-One Trial and the Technology Behind Connexus
The study includes clinical teams at University of Michigan Health, where the procedure was performed.
Real-Time Demonstration and In-Session Dialogue
The participant lives with a progressive motor neuron disease—conditions that encompass disorders like amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and primary lateral sclerosis—which severely impacts voluntary movement and speech. While her husband could previously understand her, communicating with others had grown increasingly difficult due to severe dysarthria.
When the system was first activated for unrestricted speech, the participant chose a phrase that reflected both her personal situation and the nature of the trial: Okay, I have a lot to say.
The software decoded the sentence in real time without errors.
“When we implanted Connexus in June, we crossed the threshold into long-term human use. We have now crossed another: our first participant is choosing her own words and using neural activity to communicate them in real time.”
Matt Angle, PhD, founder and CEO of Paradromics
Later in the session, Connect-One investigator Matthew Willsey asked what she would say to someone considering a brain-computer interface procedure.
“Don’t be afraid. It’s a wonderful experience to be able to help others by your participation in the research study.”
First participant, Connect-One study
The decoded text matched every word she intended to convey. During that same evaluation, she placed a live phone call to her family, asking questions of her grandchildren and responding using the system’s generated voice output.
Broader Context in Motor Restoration Trials
The broader landscape of brain-computer interface research includes several distinct technical approaches designed to restore lost functions. Intracortical arrays like Paradromics’ Connexus platform aim to capture high-resolution data directly from neural tissue.
Simultaneous work in neurorehabilitation also spans multimodal decoding efforts. Research teams tracking neural activity across multiple body movements—such as the BRAVO clinical trial registered under NCT03698149—have recorded data from participants attempting speech, gestures, and other movements to understand how different neural signals can be translated into command outputs.
