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Will brain implants that turn thoughts to text become commonplace?

Part 2 of the TED Radio Hour episode The biotech visionaries

Synchron’s implantable brain-computer interface allows people to turn thoughts into texts, emails, and posts. Founder Tom Oxley explains who this tech is for and whether it will be widely used.

About Tom Oxley

Tom Oxley is a brain-computer interface specialist and the founder and CEO of Synchron, a neural interface technology company. At Synchron, Oxley is developing an endovascular, implantable brain-computer interface, which allows a patient’s thoughts to be transmitted wirelessly through the skin to control an array of digital devices.

Oxley practices as a neurointerventionist at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City. He completed his MD at Monash University, and he completed his PhD in neuroengineering at the University of Melbourne. He has performed more than 1,600 endovascular neurosurgical procedures and has published more than 100 internationally peer-reviewed articles.

This segment of TED Radio Hour was produced by Harsha Nahata and Andrea Gutierrez and edited by Sanaz Meshkinpour. You can follow us on Facebook @TEDRadioHour and email us at [email protected].

Web Resources

Related TED Bio: Tom Oxley

Related TED Talk: The life-changing power of assistive technologies

Related TED Talk: A look inside the brain in real time

Related NPR Links

Shots: Experimental Brain Implant Lets Man With Paralysis Turn His Thoughts Into Words

All Things Considered: Experimental Brain Implant Lets Man With Paralysis Turn His Thoughts Into Words

Shots: Even healthy brains decline with age. Here’s what you can do

Copyright 2025 NPR

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Manoush Zomorodi is the host of TED Radio Hour. She is a journalist, podcaster and media entrepreneur, and her work reflects her passion for investigating how technology and business are transforming humanity.

Zomorodi is a co-founder of Stable Genius Productions and is the co-host and co-creator of ZigZag, the business podcast about being human. She also created, hosted, and was managing editor of the podcast Note to Self in partnership with WNYC Studios, which was named Best Tech Podcast of 2017 by The Academy of Podcasters.

Prior to her time at WNYC, Zomorodi reported and produced around the world for BBC News and Thomson Reuters, including a few years in Berlin.

She was named one of Fast Company's 100 Most Creative People in Business for 2018 and has received numerous awards for her work, including The Gracie for Best Radio Host in 2014 and 2018. Her book "Bored and Brilliant: How Spacing Out Can Unlock Your Most Creative Self" (2017, St. Martin's Press) and her TED Talk are guides to surviving information overload and the "Attention Economy."

Zomorodi received a bachelor's degree from Georgetown University in English and fine arts. She is half-Persian and half-Swiss but was born in New York City, where she lives with her family.

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