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Utah array / NeuroPort
Courtesy of Blackrock Neurotech · Press kit, editorial use (opens blackrockneurotech.com)

Utah array / NeuroPort

by Blackrock NeurotechUS

PilotStage 3 of 5

Widely used in university brain-implant trials; working on a commercial implanted system.

Updated 12 Jun 2025Checked 25 Sep0 updates this week

Milestones

Next · Commercial fully implanted system
  1. First human implant (BrainGate)2004Complete.
  2. Robot arm reach-and-grab by thought (Nature)May 2012Complete.
  3. Commercial fully implanted systemNowCurrent milestone.

Most important updates

  • 12 Jun 2025
  • 14 Aug 2024
  • 29 Apr 2024
  • 23 Aug 2023
  • 12 May 2021

Current obstacles

  • A plug through the skinThe skull connector passes through the skin, risking infection and limiting home use.

Physics limits

  • Stiff needles in soft brainSilicon is about a hundred million times stiffer than brain tissue. As the brain moves with each heartbeat, rigid needles cause micro-injury and scarring, and recordings decline over years.
  • 96 channels cover a tiny patchOne array samples a 4 x 4 mm square of cortex. Richer control needs several arrays, and each adds surgery and wiring.
  • A wire through the skin is an open doorA connector through the scalp is a permanent wound with lasting infection risk. Going fully wireless removes it but runs into implant heating limits.

How it works

3 parts
A Utah array seen side-on: a row of its silicon needles, each tipped with a recording site, rising from the base on its fine wire bundle
A Utah array seen side-on: a row of its silicon needles, each tipped with a recording site, rising from the base on its fine wire bundleCourtesy of Blackrock Neurotech · Press kit, editorial use (opens blackrockneurotech.com)
Pierce

A bed of 100 needles

A 4 x 4 mm grid of silicon needles, each tipped with a metal electrode, is pressed about 1-1.5 mm into the cortex.

Connect

A plug through the scalp

Fine wires run to a connector fixed to the skull that pokes through the skin; a cable links it to computers.

Decode

Firing patterns to actions

Software learns how the recorded neurons fire when a person tries to move or speak, and turns that into cursor moves, robot-arm motion, text or speech.

Update log

5 updates

Thu 12 Jun 2025

  • Major: PaperResearch

Wed 14 Aug 2024

  • Major: PaperResearch

Mon 29 Apr 2024

  • Major: PressFunding

Wed 23 Aug 2023

  • Minor: PaperResearch

Wed 12 May 2021

  • Major: PaperResearch

About Blackrock Neurotech

The team behind Utah array / NeuroPort

Blackrock Neurotech

Utah array, research brain implants

Salt Lake City maker of the Utah array, the electrode grid used in most human brain-implant research since 2004, including studies where paralyzed people moved robot arms, 'handwrote' and spoke by thought. Tether bought a majority stake for $200M in 2024.

  • Utah arrays have been implanted in dozens of people, more than any other in-brain implant.
  • University teams using its arrays turned imagined handwriting into 90 characters/min (2021) and speech into 62 words/min (2023).

blackrockneurotech.com (opens blackrockneurotech.com)Company profile →

Founded
200818 yrs
Headquarters
United States
Status
Private
Valuation
private
Works in
NeurotechBrain implants
Coverage
1 program · 5 updateslatest 12 Jun 2025checked 25 Sep
Customers
BrainGate consortium (opens braingate.org)
Investors
Tether (opens tether.io)
People
Marcus GerhardtCo-founder and CEO
Primer