Ian Burkhart

Ian Burkhart was 19 when a diving accident at a North Carolina beach left him a quadriplegic. With partial movement in his arms and none in his hands, his life had changed. What he couldn’t guess was how it would change again in 2014 when he received an experimental brain-computer interface.

For the next seven and a half years, Burkhart used the implant—a tiny array of 96 electrodes listening to neurons in his motor cortex—to control an electronic sleeve on his arm. When he thought about it, this “neural bypass” would send a pulse of electricity to his muscles, making his hand close. Over time, he could even play Guitar Hero.

Burkhart only ever used the device in the lab; he was part of a research team exploring how brian implants can restore movement. So it was another setback when the team’s funding dried up and an infection prompted doctors to remove his interface.

But Burkhart, now 34, didn’t give up—instead, he became an advocate for brain-implant patients and a researcher in his own right. Burkhart is founder of the BCI Pioneers Coalition, advises the FDA, and, last year, took the second author spot on a comprehensive review of the history of brain implants published in Nature Reviews Bioengineering.

“I want more people to have access to it—that is my personal wish,” says Burkhart. “And it’s really important to have users speaking. I definitely felt like I wanted to share my story as much as possible so other people could benefit from the technology.”

Would he get another implant? Elon Musk’s company Neuralink is testing a next-generation device. Burkhart says his mind is open to the possibility.