by Annette Pinder

Elad I. Levy, MD recently presented results of the COMMAND clinical trial to the Congress of Neurosurgeons (CNS). As principal investigator, Levy discussed the safety of implanting a brain-computer interface to restore mobility in people with severe paralysis. His paper earned him the prestigious CNS’ Duke Samson Award.

A SUNY Distinguished Professor, Levy is the L. Nelson Hopkins Endowed Chair of the Neurosurgery Department at UB Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. He co-directs Gates Stroke Center and Cerebrovascular Surgery at Kaleida Health’s Buffalo General Medical Center/Gates Vascular Institute (GVI), and is president of UB Neurosurgery (UBNS).

COMMAND is a minimally invasive procedure in which a device is implanted in the blood vessel on the surface of the brain’s motor cortex via the jugular vein. Detecting and wirelessly transmitting motor intent from the brain, the device restores a severely paralyzed person’s ability to have hands-free control over their personal devices. Six patients were enrolled in the study – two at Gates Vascular Institute, and two each at University of Pittsburgh, and Mount Sinai Health System, with more being enrolled next year at various sites, including GVI.

“We are at the forefront in navigating complex devices in the venous system of the brain,” said Levy. Levy says Buffalo was chosen for the trial because of the unique partnership of UBNS, GVI, and Jacobs Institute that allows for optimized procedures before patient testing, and the ability of the Jacobs Institute’s biomedical engineers to create precision 3D printed models to scale of a patient’s anatomy and vascular structures. “Using computer software planning, we pinpoint precisely where the implantable stent goes in the brain, which is part of this whole revolution in artificial intelligence (AI) happening right now,” says Levy.