University of Michigan — Neural engineering & BCI ecosystem
UMich is a major neural engineering hub spanning intracortical iBCI translation, noninvasive clinical BCIs, and foundational neural probe hardware (the ‘Michigan probe’ lineage).
The University of Michigan (UMich) is best understood less as a single “flagship BCI lab” and more as an ecosystem spanning the full stack: interfaces → circuits → decoding → clinical translation. It is also historically central to microfabricated silicon probes (the “Michigan probe” lineage), which shaped modern high-channel-count neural recording.
Why UMich matters
- Clinic-facing iBCI momentum: UMich has publicly described a dedicated clinical pathway (BCI clinic) and neurosurgery-led implantable BCI work.
- Hardware lineage: UMich engineering describes the Michigan probe as a turning point in multi-site neural recording.
- Breadth: intracortical systems work coexists with noninvasive clinical BCI efforts focused on practical usability.
Featured labs and what they contribute
1) Willsey Laboratory for Brain–Computer Interfaces (implantable iBCI, neurosurgery)
Professor: Matthew Willsey, MD, PhD (Neurosurgery)
Official pages:
What they do (high-level): Implantable intracortical BCIs aimed at restoring speech and motor function, with emphasis on robustness and clinical translation.
Notable translation signal: UMich publicly described an in-human Connexus / Paradromics recording performed intraoperatively during epilepsy surgery.
- Michigan Medicine: 03
Representative peer-reviewed papers (starting set):
- A high-performance brain–computer interface for finger… (Nature Medicine). DOI: 10.1038/s41591-024-03341-8. 04
- Related full text (PMC): 05
2) Chestek Lab (implantable BMI systems + carbon-fiber electrode technology)
Professor: Cynthia (Cindy) Chestek, PhD
Official pages:
What they do (high-level): Implantable BMI systems and interface hardware, including high-density carbon fiber electrode arrays.
Representative papers:
- Sharpened and mechanically durable carbon fiber electrode arrays… (IEEE TNSRE, 2021). PubMed: 08
- Insertion of linear 8.4 μm diameter 16 channel carbon fiber arrays… (J Neural Eng, 2015). PubMed: 09
3) UM-DBI (Direct Brain Interface Laboratory) — noninvasive clinical BCIs (EEG / P300)
Professor: Jane Huggins, PhD
Official pages:
What they do (high-level): Practical EEG-based BCIs with an emphasis on usability (including P300 communication paradigms) and translation into clinical/AAC contexts.
Representative papers:
- BCI-Utility Metric for Asynchronous P300 BCI Systems (open access). 12
- Effects of text generation on P300 BCI performance (open access). 13
4) Michigan neural probe lineage (microfabricated silicon probes)
UMich engineering highlights the “Michigan probe” as a major inflection point in multi-site neural recording:
- UMich ECE story: 14
A broader technical overview (secondary, open access):
- State-of-the-art MEMS and microsystem tools for brain research (open access). 15
Recommended structure going forward
If this hub stays useful as the atlas grows, the next step is to fork into subpages (one per lab) with:
- PI + official pages
- interface types (intracortical / EEG / probes)
- 3–6 key publications (PubMed/DOI)
- links back to relevant Devices entries
Clinical progress
- Recent: Michigan neurosurgeon Matthew Willsey performed the first implant of Paradromics’ Connexus in the Connect-One study (Jun 17, 2026). Source: 16
Source index
References, research and institutional reports.