June 18, 2026 12:15 PM – 1:15 PM
Innovative Neurotechnologies – A Journey from the Lab to the Clinic and Back
Madjid Hihi, Ph.D.
CEA-Leti, Grenoble (France)
Establishing translational ecosystems that unite neuroscientists, VLSI circuit designers, materials engineers, and clinicians is essential for the development of scalable and reliable neurotechnology. Institutional settings such as CEA-Leti’s Clinatec biomedical center in France demonstrate how long-term research, preclinical validation, and clinical evaluation can be combined within a unified framework. These environments support iterative development of fully implantable systems, their application in clinical settings, and their eventual transfer to industry.
Neurotechnologies developed at Clinatec in Grenoble include a Brain-Computer Interface for which a wireless electrocorticography device approved for long-term clinical use has been developed to benefit motor-disabled patients: the WIMAGINE® system [1].
World premieres have been successfully conducted at Clinatec by coupling WIMAGINE® with exoskeletons [2], as well as electrical spinal cord stimulators to close the loop in a so-called brain-spine interface [3]. These two applications have the objective to compensate spinal cord injury patient mobility and have paved the way to a successful industrial transfer in 2024 to ONWARD Medical [4]. The upcoming application targeted by the Clinatec team and their collaborators, such as at EPFL, is the use of WIMAGINE® coupled to motor rehabilitation systems, for stroke patient neurorehabilitation.
In this context, onboard neural decoding is emerging as a new technological frontier for restoring motor function and enabling effective neurorehabilitation. Advances in microelectronics, high-density electrode design, and embedded artificial intelligence are now converging toward autonomous neuroprosthesis, enabling the decoding of motor intentions and the driving of complex effectors in real time.
These advances will bring us closer to seamless, lifelong, and intuitive restoration of movement—where the boundary between brain and machine becomes physiologically continuous—and will in turn transform how the brain interfaces with machines and therapeutic systems.
[1] C. S. Mestais et al., “WIMAGINE: Wireless 64-Channel ECoG Recording Implant for Long Term Clinical Applications,” IEEE Transactions on Neural Systems and Rehabilitation Engineering, vol. 23, no. 1, Art. no. 1, Jan. 2015, doi: 10.1109/TNSRE.2014.2333541.
[2] A. L. Benabid et al., “An exoskeleton controlled by an epidural wireless brain–machine interface in a tetraplegic patient: a proof-of-concept demonstration,” The Lancet Neurology, vol. 18, no. 12, pp. 1112–1122, Dec. 2019, doi: 10.1016/S1474-4422(19)30321-7.
[3] H. Lorach et al., “Walking naturally after spinal cord injury using a brain–spine interface,” Nature, vol. 618, no. 7963, pp. 126–133, Jun. 2023, doi: 10.1038/s41586-023-06094-5.
[4] https://www.leti-cea.com/cea-tech/leti/english/Pages/What’s-On/News/ONWARD-Medical-Signs-Agreement-with-CEA-for-Exclusive-Rights-to-Clinatec-s-WIMAGINE-Brain-Computer-Interface-(BCI)-Technology.aspx
About Abdelmadjid Hihi, PhD
25 years of experience in biomedical translational R&D
Current interests: medtech, biotech, innovation management
Dr. Abdelmadjid Hihi (Madjid) is Deputy Director for Clinical Innovation at CEA-Leti’s Division for Innovative Technologies for Health in Grenoble (France). He is responsible for international collaborations and business development, in particular for neuroprosthetics and neuromodulation devices developed at Leti’s biomedical R&D center called Clinatec, of which he is a representative at CEA-Leti’s scientific internal council. Until 2011, he collaborated with Génome Québec, a Canadian R&D funding institution, where he managed a project portfolio of over $30M in cardiovascular pharmacogenomics clinical trials, cancer, and medical diagnostics development. Prior to this activity, he was leading drug discovery and preclinical R&D groups at Chronogen Inc., a Montreal-based biotech company. He was responsible for translational programs that successfully progressed to late preclinical phases, in collaboration with the Japanese company Sosei Inc.
Madjid’s current scientific and management activities at CEA-Leti include the evaluation of drug-free therapeutic approaches for neurological disorders, based on active implantable medical devices. He successfully launched collaborative projects in the field of Brain-Computer Interfaces with funding from DARPA, the European Innovation Council, the French Research Agency and the French Ministry of Health. He has been heavily involved in CEA-Leti’s BCI system industrial transfer to ONWARD Medical (Switzerland/The Netherlands); and in CEA-Leti’s industrial collaboration with Boston Scientific (USA) to develop a novel therapeutic medical device based on intracranial near-infrared light stimulation to treat Parkinson’s disease. Both industrial collaborations contributed to clinical world premieres.
At the Program level, Madjid is CEA’s lead coordinator within the Digital Europe-funded program TEF HEALTH (Testing and Experimentation Facilities in AI and robotics), where he sits on the program Board for IP&Business Development. TEF HEALTH is a 51-member European consortium focusing on delivering clinical services to Medtech SMEs using artificial intelligence in their medical solutions.
Madjid has been invited to 15 French and international venues as a speaker in the last years, such as at NYU, Hong Kong University, Politecnico di Milano (Italy), Keio University (Japan), The World Electronic Forum in Grenoble (France), and Villa Beretta center for rehabilitation (Italy).
Madjid holds a PhD in biology from Université de Lausanne. He is a McGill postgraduate alumnus, and a Swiss National Fund recipient for postdoctoral studies.
