BCIs & Neurotechnology News and Discussions

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Brain chips: the Sydney researchers ‘miles ahead’ of Elon Musk’s Neuralink

Sat 16 Mar 2024 19.00 GMT

Brain-computer interface technology is at the core of movies such as Ready Player One, The Matrix and Avatar. But outside the realm of science fiction, BCI is being used on Earth to help paralysed people communicate, to study dreams and to control robots.

Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk announced in January – to much fanfare – that his neurotechnology company Neuralink had implanted a computer chip into a human for the first time. In February, he announced that the patient was able to control a computer mouse with their thoughts.

Neuralink’s aim is noble: to help people who otherwise can’t communicate and interact with the environment. But details are scant. The project immediately sounded alarm bells about brain privacy, the risk of hacking and other things that could go wrong.

Dr Steve Kassem, a senior research fellow at Neuroscience Research Australia, says “tonnes of grains of salt” should be taken with the Neuralink news. It is not the first company to do a neural implant, he says. In fact, Australia is a “hotspot” for related neurological research.

https://www.theguardian.com/science/202 ... rain-chips

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Mount Sinai is First in New York to Study a Brain-computer Interface Designed to Record and Map the Brain’s Activity in Unprecedented Detail
March 22, 2024

Introduction:

(Eurekalert) A multidisciplinary team of neurosurgeons and neuroscientists from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai are the first in New York to study a new brain-computer interface that’s engineered to map a large area of the brain’s surface, in real time, at resolutions hundreds of times more detailed than typical arrays used in neurosurgical procedures.

A brain-computer interface (BCI) is a system that deciphers brain signals and translates them into commands for external technologies. The ultimate goal of a BCI is to restore function to patients with debilitating neurological conditions by enabling them to operate digital devices using only their thoughts.

The Layer 7 Cortical Interface, developed by Precision Neuroscience Corporation, contains 1,024 tiny electrodes spanning an area of 1.5 square centimeter, embedded in a flexible film that conforms to the brain’s surface. The film is one-fifth the thickness of a human hair and was designed to be implanted and removed by neurosurgeons without damaging brain tissue.

Read more here: https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1038708

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Universal brain-computer interface lets people play games with just their thoughts
https://techxplore.com/news/2024-03-uni ... -play.html
by University of Texas at Austin

Imagine playing a racing game like Mario Kart, using only your brain to execute the complex series of turns in a lap.

This is not a video game fantasy but a real program that engineers at The University of Texas at Austin have created as part of research into brain-computer interfaces to help improve the lives of people with motor disabilities. More importantly, the researchers incorporated machine learning capabilities with their brain-computer interface, making it a one-size-fits-all solution.

Typically, these devices require extensive calibration for each user—every brain is different, both for healthy and disabled users—and that has been a major hurdle to mainstream adoption. This new solution can quickly understand the needs of an individual subject and self-calibrate through repetition. That means multiple patients could use the device without needing to tune it to the individual.

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Synchron Begins Planning Brain Chip Human Trials
The company hopes to attract dozens of volunteers for testing as it seeks FDA approval.
By Ryan Whitwam April 10, 2024

The biological and the technological do not naturally intermingle, but several biotech startups are trying to change that by developing a brain-computer interface (BCI). Elon Musk's Neuralink is possibly the most well-known brain chip company, but a competitor called Synchron may be closer to commercial success. Having completed a small-scale human study, Synchron is now seeking volunteers for a full clinical trial that could earn the company regulatory approval to begin selling the chips.

Computers can help anyone get things done, but the stakes are higher for disabled people who can't use a mouse or touchscreen efficiently. Simply being able to move a cursor can open up a world of technological assistance, and a BCI can help even those with no limb mobility interact with a computer. Synchron has thus far implanted its chip in 10 patients (six in the US and four in Australia) and has seen them gain the ability to type up to 16 words per minute using the BCI link.

According to CEO and founder Tom Oxley, a large-scale study is the next step, and Synchron is ready to undertake this effort as soon as the FDA gives the green light. The company has set up a registry for patients and medical institutions that are interested in taking part. So far, about 120 clinical trial centers have contacted Synchron. The firm hopes to attract dozens of viable candidates for the trial, which could run for several years before results are reported.

https://www.extremetech.com/science/syn ... man-trials

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Boosting the brain's control of prosthetic devices by tapping the cerebellum
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-04- ... ellum.html
by Cedars-Sinai Medical Center

Neuroprosthetics, a technology that allows the brain to control external devices such as robotic limbs, is beginning to emerge as a viable option for patients disabled by amputation or neurological conditions such as stroke. Cedars-Sinai investigators, in a study published in the journal Science Advances, are believed to be the first to show that tapping the power of the cerebellum, a region in the back of the brain, could improve patients' ability to control these devices.

"Neuroprosthetics have largely tapped the brain's outermost cerebral cortex. The cerebellum has a well-known role in movement but has been ignored in neuroprosthetic research," said Tanuj Gulati, Ph.D., assistant professor of Biomedical Sciences and Neurology and researcher in the Center for Neural Science and Medicine at Cedars-Sinai, and senior author of the study.

"We are the first to record what is happening in the cerebellum as the brain learns to manipulate these devices, and we found that its involvement is essential for device use."

Patients who use neuroprosthetic devices have electrodes permanently implanted in the portion of the brain—usually the cerebral cortex—that controls movement for the function the device is replacing. This technique can be used to help patients control a robotic limb, a motorized wheelchair or a computer keyboard, among other devices.