BCIs & Neurotechnology News and Discussions

[firestar464]

IDK if this is the right place to post this, but it seems like the prediction for brain chips this year has been removed. May I ask why?

[firestar464]

https://www.technologyreview.com/2023/0 ... er-minute/

Brain implants are just getting better.

[firestar464]

https://www.technologyreview.com/2022/0 ... ed-brains/

A memory prosthesis could restore memory in people with damaged brains

[weatheriscool]

Next-gen "dry" electrodes used to control a robot via brain waves
By Ben Coxworth
https://newatlas.com/science/dry-electr ... rol-robot/
April 03, 2023

Although it is possible to control devices using brain waves, doing so usually involves having electrodes and conductive gel applied to one's head. Now, however, scientists have developed a new-and-improved type of "dry" electrode – and it's been used to mind-control a robot.

One of the obvious problems with conductive gel is the fact that users are left with a bunch of goop on their head, which they have to wash off. Additionally, some people's skin may have an allergic reaction to the gel.

Dry electrodes which don't require gel do exist, but they tend to be flat and rigid. This means that they don't conform well to the rounded contours of the head, and they have difficulty making contact with the skin if hairs are in the way. As a result, they tend to not perform as well as "wet" electrodes.

[weatheriscool]

New Hope for Those Living With Paralysis: Nerve Stimulation Therapy Could Allow Patients To Regain Arm Function
https://scitechdaily.com/new-hope-for-t ... -function/

By Columbia University Irving Medical Center April 8, 2023
Spinal Cord Nerve Pain Illustration

A spinal cord injury is a serious medical condition that occurs when there is damage to the spinal cord, the central structure of the nervous system that runs from the brain down the back. This damage can result in a loss of movement, sensation, and other bodily functions below the site of the injury.

A promising nerve stimulation therapy has been developed at Columbia University’s Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, which has shown positive results in animal studies. This therapy has the potential to restore arm function in individuals with spinal cord injuries, offering a new hope for those affected by this debilitating condition.

“The stimulation technique targets the nervous system connections spared by injury,” says Jason Carmel, MD, Ph.D., a neurologist at Columbia University and NewYork-Presbyterian who is leading the research, “enabling them to take over some of the lost function.”

The findings were recently published in the journal Brain.
A personal quest to develop treatments for people with paralysis

In 1999, when Carmel was a second-year medical student at Columbia, his identical twin brother suffered a spinal cord injury, paralyzing him from the chest down and limiting the use of his hands.

Carmel’s life changed that day, too. His brother’s injury ultimately led Carmel to become a neurologist and a neuroscientist, with the goal of developing new treatments to restore movement in people living with paralysis.

In recent years, some high-profile studies of spinal cord electrical stimulation have allowed a few people with incomplete paralysis to begin to stand and take steps again.

Carmel’s approach is different because it targets the arm and hand and because it pairs brain and spinal cord stimulation, with electrical stimulation of the brain followed by stimulation of the spinal cord. “When the two signals converge at the level of the spinal cord, within about 10 milliseconds of each other, we get the strongest effect,” he says, “and the combination appears to enable the remaining connections in the spinal cord to take control.”

[Vakanai]

Next-gen "dry" electrodes used to control a robot via brain waves
By Ben Coxworth
https://newatlas.com/science/dry-electr ... rol-robot/
April 03, 2023

Although it is possible to control devices using brain waves, doing so usually involves having electrodes and conductive gel applied to one's head. Now, however, scientists have developed a new-and-improved type of "dry" electrode – and it's been used to mind-control a robot.

One of the obvious problems with conductive gel is the fact that users are left with a bunch of goop on their head, which they have to wash off. Additionally, some people's skin may have an allergic reaction to the gel.

Dry electrodes which don't require gel do exist, but they tend to be flat and rigid. This means that they don't conform well to the rounded contours of the head, and they have difficulty making contact with the skin if hairs are in the way. As a result, they tend to not perform as well as "wet" electrodes.

See, now this is the news that excites me and I don't see how it doesn't get people talking. Noninvasive dry BCI allows user to control robot. Imagine what all could be done if such BCI's were cheap and plentiful, all the tasks people would literally set their minds to!

[Nanotechandmorefuture]

Next-gen "dry" electrodes used to control a robot via brain waves
By Ben Coxworth
https://newatlas.com/science/dry-electr ... rol-robot/
April 03, 2023

Although it is possible to control devices using brain waves, doing so usually involves having electrodes and conductive gel applied to one's head. Now, however, scientists have developed a new-and-improved type of "dry" electrode – and it's been used to mind-control a robot.

One of the obvious problems with conductive gel is the fact that users are left with a bunch of goop on their head, which they have to wash off. Additionally, some people's skin may have an allergic reaction to the gel.

Dry electrodes which don't require gel do exist, but they tend to be flat and rigid. This means that they don't conform well to the rounded contours of the head, and they have difficulty making contact with the skin if hairs are in the way. As a result, they tend to not perform as well as "wet" electrodes.

Ok see now THIS is cool lol! Guess it must be pretty old to be in public relatively quickly. The mind control as aspect is pretty freaky.

[weatheriscool]

Mind reading? New AI system can translate a person’s brain activity into a continuous stream of text
https://www.psypost.org/2023/05/mind-re ... text-80255
by Christina Maher
May 2, 2023

The technology to decode our thoughts is drawing ever closer. Neuroscientists at the University of Texas have for the first time decoded data from non-invasive brain scans and used them to reconstruct language and meaning from stories that people hear, see or even imagine.

In a new study published in Nature Neuroscience, Alexander Huth and colleagues successfully recovered the gist of language and sometimes exact phrases from functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) brain recordings of three participants.

Technology that can create language from brain signals could be enormously useful for people who cannot speak due to conditions such as motor neurone disease. At the same time, it raises concerns for the future privacy of our thoughts.

[weatheriscool]

Deployable electrodes for minimally invasive craniosurgery
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2023-05- ... rgery.html
by Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne

Stephanie Lacour's specialty is the development of flexible electrodes that adapt to a moving body, providing more reliable connections with the nervous system. Her work is inherently interdisciplinary.

So when a neurosurgeon asked Lacour and her team to come up with minimally invasive electrodes for insertion through a human skull, they came up with an elegant solution that takes full advantage of their expertise in compliant electrodes, and is inspired by soft robotics actuation. The results are published in Science Robotics.

The challenge? To insert a large cortical electrode array through a small hole in the skull, deploying the device in a space that measures about 1 mm between the skull and the surface of the brain—without damaging the brain.

[weatheriscool]

Soft 'e-skin' generates nerve-like impulses that talk to the brain
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2023-05- ... ulses.html
by Andrew Myers, Stanford University

Mechanoreceptors in human skin can sense the delicate weight of a butterfly, feel the heat of a nearby flame or a cool drink, understand whether a hand is raised in a fist or a peace sign, and count the pulse of a loved one with a gentle touch. Engineers eager to create artificial electronic skin have so far been able to fashion soft, flexible materials that mimic each of these remarkable senses, but never have they created a single sheet with skin-like materials that can directly talk to the brain—until now.

While previous efforts required rigid electronics to convert the sensed signal into electrical pulses that the brain can read, researchers at Stanford University have produced soft integrated circuits that convert sensed pressure or temperature to electrical signals similar to the nerve impulses to communicate with the brain. The researchers hope someday that those signals might be directed to implanted wireless communication chips in the peripheral nerve to allow amputees to control prosthetic limbs. Other potential uses might include new-age implantable or wearable medical devices.

[funkervogt]

Implants in paralyzed man's brain and spine let him walk again.

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-023-01728-0

[weatheriscool]

Neuralink gets FDA approval for human trials, but others are way ahead
By Loz Blain
May 26, 2023
https://newatlas.com/computers/neuralin ... blackrock/

Several years after Elon Musk's "aspirational" timeframe, Neuralink has announced it's received FDA approval for the first human trials of its brain-computer interface. But it's worth noting that another company has already done more than 50 implants.

Neuralink's first application to the FDA in 2022 was rejected on the grounds of safety concerns around the lithium battery, the potential for its tiny wires to move around in the brain, and uncertainties around if, and indeed how, Neuralink might be able to safely remove the implant without damaging brain tissue, according to anonymous current and former employees that spoke to Reuters earlier this year.

It seems it's been able to successfully address these concerns, and while the company is not yet seeking volunteers for the first trials, the regulatory door is now open.

[weatheriscool]

[caltrek]

How DARPA Interfaced With a Science Writer’s Brain and Turned Her Into a Sharpshooter
by Sara Goudarz
May 29, 2023

Introduction:

(Bulletin of Atomic Scientists) In 2007, science writer and editor Sally Adee attended a technology conference for DARPA—The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency—when she learned about a brain surface electrical stimulation method that allegedly cut in half the time it takes a person to go from novice to expert in sharpshooting. Known as trans cranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), the brain stimulation technique was also presented as a way to potentially speed up language learning and mathematical aptitude.

Adee was struck by the idea of surface brain stimulation and for several years worked on convincing the Department of Defense agency to grant her permission to try it out for herself. In 2011, she flew from London to California to participate in an army training simulation. With a device on her head delivering electrical currents, Adee went from a frustrated shooter to a skilled sniper.

At the time, the idea of transcranial direct current stimulation had been circulating for about a decade, and scientists wanted to know whether the concerted firing of neurons, by strengthening their connection through currents, would affect a person’s ability to learn. It turned out it did, at least for Adee. But did it work for others, and how long would the effects last?

To better understand the experience, Adee set out to learn more about the electrical currents that run through all living organisms—the electrical biome, or electrome—and details the findings in her book We Are Electric. The Bulletin’s Sara Goudarzi spoke to Adee about her encounter with transcranial direct current stimulation and how the technique can be used and potentially misused. The resulting discussion has been edited for length and clarity. (See linked article for referenced discussion).

Read more here: https://thebulletin.org/2023/05/qa-how ... -heading

[firestar464]

They def gonna use it to train troops in the future (assuming robots don't take over human soldiers)

[caltrek]

Neuralink gets FDA approval for human trials, but others are way ahead
By Loz Blain
May 26, 2023
https://newatlas.com/computers/neuralin ... blackrock/

Several years after Elon Musk's "aspirational" timeframe, Neuralink has announced it's received FDA approval for the first human trials of its brain-computer interface. But it's worth noting that another company has already done more than 50 implants.

Neuralink's first application to the FDA in 2022 was rejected on the grounds of safety concerns around the lithium battery, the potential for its tiny wires to move around in the brain, and uncertainties around if, and indeed how, Neuralink might be able to safely remove the implant without damaging brain tissue, according to anonymous current and former employees that spoke to Reuters earlier this year.

It seems it's been able to successfully address these concerns, and while the company is not yet seeking volunteers for the first trials, the regulatory door is now open.

Here is a nice background article concerning this topic. Not a whole lot that is new to this thread, but a good overview:

Musk's Neuralink Is Now Approved For Human Trials. Here's Why It Took So Long.
by David Tuffley
May 31 , 2023

Introduction:

(Science Alert) Since its founding in 2016, Elon Musk's neurotechnology company Neuralink has had the ambitious mission to build a next-generation brain implant with at least 100 times more brain connections than devices currently approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

The company has now reached a significant milestone, having received FDA approval to begin human trials. So what were the issues keeping the technology in the pre- clinical trial phase for as long as it was? And have these concerns been addressed?

What is Neuralink?

Neuralink is making a Class III medical device known as a brain-computer interface (BCI). The device connects the brain to an external computer via a Bluetooth signal, enabling continuous communication back and forth.

The device itself is a coin-sized unit called a Link. It's implanted within a small disk-shaped cutout in the skull using a precision surgical robot. The robot splices a thousand tiny threads from the Link to certain neurons in the brain. Each thread is about a quarter the diameter of a human hair.

Potential benefits

If Neuralink's BCI can be made to work safely on humans, I believe the potential benefits would make the effort worthwhile.

Read more of the Science Alert article here:

As also reported in the cited post:

(Reuters) The…(FDA’s) major safety concerns involved the device’s lithium battery; the potential for the implant’s tiny wires to migrate to other areas of the brain; and questions over whether and how the device can be removed without damaging brain tissue, the employees said.

Source: https://www.reuters.com/investigates/s ... musk-fda/

[Powers]

They def gonna use it to train troops in the future (assuming robots don't take over human soldiers)

Musk's Neuralink Is Now Approved For Human Trials. Here's Why It Took So Long.

Felons will be the first.

[Nanotechandmorefuture]

They def gonna use it to train troops in the future (assuming robots don't take over human soldiers)

Musk's Neuralink Is Now Approved For Human Trials. Here's Why It Took So Long.

Felons will be the first.

Probably the police first as well. Robocop has been a thing since the 1980s after all and Deus Ex has been a thing since 2000.

They def gonna use it to train troops in the future (assuming robots don't take over human soldiers)

No just general mind control aspect. If they ever field it for troops it will be a meat grinder war with robots.

[caltrek]

Brain Implant Partially Restores Feeling and Movement in Quadriplegic Man's Hands
by Rachael Funnell
July 31, 2023

Introduction:

(IFL Science) A man with quadriplegia has had partial movement and sensation restored to his hands and wrists following a first-of-its-kind clinical trial that implanted microchips into his brain. The brain implant forms an electronic bridge that uses artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms to translate thoughts into actions, reconnecting the pathway between his brain and body that was severed by injury.

“This is the first time the brain, body and spinal cord have been linked together electronically in a paralyzed human to restore lasting movement and sensation,” said Chad Bouton, professor in the Institute of Bioelectronic Medicine at the Feinstein Institutes, vice president of advanced engineering at Northwell Health, developer of the technology, and principal investigator of the clinical trial, in a statement.

“When the study participant thinks about moving his arm or hand, we ‘supercharge’ his spinal cord and stimulate his brain and muscles to help rebuild connections, provide sensory feedback, and promote recovery. This type of thought-driven therapy is a game-changer. Our goal is to use this technology one day to give people living with paralysis the ability to live fuller, more independent lives.”

Keith Thomas has had quadriplegia since a diving accident in July 2020 that injured the C4 and C5 vertebrae of his spine. Injuries this high up can cause quadriplegia and tetraplegia, patterns of paralysis that affect the hands, arms, torso and legs, bladder and bowel function, and respiratory function. It results in loss of movement and sensation in all four limbs – but now a novel type of brain implant has been able to restore the feeling and control of Thomas’s hands and wrists for the first time since his accident.

“There was a time that I didn’t know if I was even going to live, or if I wanted to, frankly. And now, I can feel the touch of someone holding my hand. It’s overwhelming,” Thomas said. “The only thing I want to do is to help others. That’s always been the thing I’m best at. If this can help someone even more than it’s helped me somewhere down the line, it’s all worth it.”

Read more here: https://www.iflscience.com/brain-impla ... ds-70065

[weatheriscool]

Electrotherapy without surgery using temporary organic electrodes
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2023-08- ... rodes.html
by Lund University

Researchers at Lund University and Gothenburg University have successfully developed temporary, organic electrodes that can be seamlessly integrated into biological systems. The method, now published in Nature Communications, opens up a future where bioelectronics can be implanted in and removed from the body without surgery.

Electrotherapy is a medical treatment method that uses electrical currents to stimulate the body's tissues and nervous system. Typically, this treatment is used for chronic conditions such as Parkinson's disease or heart rhythm disorders. However, there are various non-chronic diseases like cancer and nerve injuries that could potentially benefit from electrotherapy. The challenge lies in the need for surgery to place the necessary metal electrodes for the treatment. In sensitive tissues, such as the brain, this often involves a very complex procedure.