As a major organ in the body, the brain performs important functions that can affect the activities of the other organs. Recording the neural activities is important in understanding brain-related disorders. Recent advances in medicine allow these diseases to be treated with electrical stimulation.
An Innovation in Brain Implant Technology
Surgeons at West Virginia University made a breakthrough in connecting the human brain to a computer by placing thin strips of implants on the brains of three patients. The strips are as big as a thumb and were developed by New York-based startup Precision Neuroscience. It was designed as a neural implant that can be used without damaging the delicate brain tissue.
The cellophane-like brain implants were placed on the skull of the patients for 15 minutes. During this period, the electrical activity in the temporal lobes of the patients was read, recorded, and mapped. The patients were initially sent to the hospital for brain tumor surgery, and the implants were used together with standard electrodes.
The research is still a small pilot study. Still, it allows Precision Neuroscience to be one step closer to developing a brain-computer interface (BCI). This system allows direct communication between the human and an external device.
The company did not need permission from the Food and Drug Administration to carry out the project because it posed a low risk to patients. However, it will still require approval from the agency to test its role as part of a brain-computer interface.
Precision Neuroscience chief science officer and co-founder Benjamin Rapoport plans to apply for clearance from the FDA for the device's brain mapping and diagnostic purposes. They plan to introduce it as an alternative to conventional electrodes for detecting tumors and epileptic seizures. In the long term, the company aims to help paralyzed people and enable them to communicate and move.
Brain-computer interface captures and decodes brain signals, which are then translated into electronic commands that carry out actions. Since electric signals are generated by neurons, conductive metal electrodes are used by scientists to record their activity.
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Other Attempts in Pioneering the Brain Implant Technology
An implant device called Utah is the current mainstay in brain-computer interface research. It is made of hard silicon with needles coated with conductive metals that attach to the brain tissue and record the activities of the neurons. Since the Utah array penetrates the brain tissue, it leads to inflammation and scarring of the implantation site, causing declined signal quality over time. Signal quality is a very important factor because it affects the performance of the BCI.
Implanting the Utah array also required surgeons to conduct a craniotomy, where a small hole is made in the skull. This procedure can lead to infection and bleeding; the patient may take months to recover.
Aside from Precision Neuroscience, other companies, such as Neuralink and Synchron, plan to commercialize devices that enable people to control computers and prosthetic limbs using only their thoughts. Academic researchers have tried to study this system for decades, but only a few people have been outfitted with the device.
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