BCIs & Neurotechnology News and Discussions

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Yuli Ban
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And remember my friend, future events such as these will affect you in the future
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Yuli Ban
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And remember my friend, future events such as these will affect you in the future
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Re: BCIs & Neurotechnology News and Discussions

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Yuli Ban wrote: Thu Dec 23, 2021 10:44 pm
And there it is!
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A 62-year-old Australian man paralyzed following his diagnosis with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) has become the first individual to send out a message on social media using a brain-computer interface, RT reported.

Brain-computer interfaces (BCI) are the next big thing in technology. While some people like Elon Musk want to use it to enhance human experiences as early as next year, others such as Synchron, whose interface helped Australian Philip O'Keefe send out his first tweet, want to develop it as a prosthesis for paralysis and treat other neurological diseases such as Parkinson's disease in the future, the company said in a press release.

Synchron's BCI works through its brain implant called Stentrode that does not require any brain surgery to be installed. Instead, the company leverages the intentional techniques that are commonly used to treat stroke to implant the Stentrode via the jugular vein, the press release said.

O'Keefe, who had been losing his independence to the progressing paralysis following his condition, received the implant in April 2020 and had been using it to connect with his family as well as business colleagues through email exchanges.

Recalling his experience in the press release, O'Keefe related using the interface to learning a bike, which takes a fair bit of practice but becomes quite natural once you get used to it. He just needs to think about where he wants to click on the computer and the interface now allows him to email, use online banking as well as shopping services.

His recent achievement was sharing his thoughts via social media channel Twitter, using Synchron CEO, Thomas Oxley's handle to connect with the world.
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Kernel Flow: a wearable device for noninvasive optical brain imaging
Recent advances in brain imaging techniques facilitate accurate, high-resolution observations of the brain and its functions. For example, functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) is a widely used noninvasive imaging technique that employs near-infrared light (wavelength >700 nm) to determine the relative concentration of hemoglobin in the brain, via differences in the light absorption patterns of hemoglobin.

Most noninvasive brain scanning systems use continuous-wave fNIRS, where the tissue is irradiated by a constant stream of photons. However, these systems cannot differentiate between scattered and absorbed photons. A recent advancement to this technique is time-domain (TD)-fNIRS, which uses picosecond pulses of light and fast detectors to estimate photon scattering and absorption in tissues. However, such systems are expensive and complex and have a large form factor, limiting their widespread adoption.

To overcome these challenges, researchers from Kernel, a neurotechnology company, developed a wearable headset based on TD-fNIRS technology. This device, called "Kernel Flow," weighs 2.05 kg and contains 52 modules arranged in four plates that fit on either side of the head. The specifications and performance of the Kernel Flow system are reported in the Journal of Biomedical Optics (JBO).

The headset modules feature two laser sources that generate laser pulses less than 150 picoseconds wide. The photons are then reflected off a prism and combined in a source light pipe that directs the beam to the scalp. After passing through the scalp, the laser pulses are captured by six spring-loaded detector light pipes that are 2 mm in diameter and then transmitted to six hexagonally arranged detectors 10 mm away from the laser source. The detectors record the photon arrival times into histograms and are capable of handling high photon count rates (those exceeding 1 × 109 counts per second).

To demonstrate its performance, the Kernel Flow system was used to record the brain signals of two participants who performed a finger-tapping task. During the testing session, histograms from more than 2,000 channels were collected from across the brain to measure the changes in the concentrations of oxyhemoglobin and deoxyhemoglobin.

The system was found to match conventional TD-fNIRS systems. "We demonstrated a performance similar to benchtop systems with our miniaturized device as characterized by standardized tissue and optical phantom protocols for TD-fNIRS and human neuroscience results," explains Ryan Field, the Chief Technology Officer at Kernel and the corresponding author of the study.
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Elon Musk's Neuralink plans to implant chips in human brains to treat neural disorders

MICHELLE SHEN | USA TODAY
16 hours ago

Elon Musk's Neuralink has begun recruiting for a clinical trial director, bringing it one step closer to developing technology that could connect the human mind directly to devices.

[...]

Hiring a clinical trial director will bring Neuralink one step closer to its vision. The job description includes: "As the Clinical Trial Director, you’ll work closely with some of the most innovative doctors and top engineers, as well as working with Neuralink’s first Clinical Trial participants!"

While Musk's company touts the benefits of the technology for helping people devastated by paralysis or paraplegia, others have expressed concerns about the potential darker nature of the technology.

Ever since the news, Black Mirror has been trending on Twitter.

[...]

What the job posting of the clinical trial director means for the progress of Neuralink is still up in the air, but it could indicate that human trials are set to begin soon.

https://eu.usatoday.com/story/tech/2022 ... 629809001/
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Fatherhood joy for paralysis implant dad

13 hours ago

David M’zee was 22 when an injury damaged his spine, leaving him paralysed 12 years ago. In 2017, an electrical implant to his spine enabled him to stand and walk slowly by boosting the nerve signals to his legs.

He uses the device for short periods to exercise his muscles and practise walking, and says that even when it’s not turned on, it’s brought such an improvement to his health that he’s been able to have a child.


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^^^^More on that is the article below:

Paralyzed Patients Walk and Swim Again After Receiving a Spinal Cord Implant
by Madeleine Muzdakis
February 9, 2022

https://mymodernmet.com/paralyzed-spinal-cord-implant/

Introduction:
(My Modern Met) The spine is critical to human mobility. The spinal cord connects the brain to the branches of the nervous system throughout the body. To move the legs, for example, a signal is sent by the brain's motor cortex through the spinal cord to the muscles of the legs. When the spine is severed, this communication becomes impossible, resulting in paralysis. A team of scientists has developed an implant for the spinal cord which helps remedy the breach. As described in Nature Medicine,* the implant quickly restored a shocking level of mobility to patients with paralysis.

Nine individuals have received the device. Each was fully paralyzed in their legs due to damage to the spine. The researchers embedded multielectrode paddle leads into the spine, attaching the electronics to the nerves with unprecedented precision. Controlled by a computer, a technique called epidural electrical stimulation (EES) is then employed. The brain then sends its signals southwards, where the implant replicates or boosts them with the aid of computer programming. These stronger signals are enough to prompt movement in the muscles. Without the implant, they would be much too weak or non-existent due to the spinal injury.

“Our new, soft implanted leads are designed to be placed underneath the vertebrae, directly on the spinal cord. They can modulate the neurons regulating specific muscle groups,” explained study author Grégoire Courtine to IFL Science.** “By controlling these implants, we can activate the spinal cord like the brain would do naturally to have the patient stand, walk, swim or ride a bike, for example.” Subjects were able to do so within a day of activating the implant.

While this development is revolutionary, it is far from a cure and may not be in widespread use for some time. However, it has meant the world to the men who have regained some movement during the study. Michel Roccati, who severed his spine in a motorcycle accident, is able to walk again. He told the BBC, “I stand up, walk where I want to, I can walk the stairs—it's almost a normal life.” The first to receive the implant, David M'zee was able to conceive with his wife as a result (See video featured in previous post - caltrek). He has since taken steps alongside his infant daughter. While not yet used in everyday life, the implant has already made a huge difference for recipients. Its future further benefits are only to be imagined.
*https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591- ... cience.com

**https://www.iflscience.com/health-and-m ... d-implant/
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Yuli Ban
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How brain-computer interfaces are turning thoughts into text
Facebook (as it was then known, before it entered the Metaverse) made headlines when it started funding brain-computer interface (BCI) technology, searching for a way to allow users to create text just by thinking it. Facebook was interested in creating a new way of interacting with technology – a system where a user could simply imagine speaking, and a device would turn those electrical impulses into text.

Facebook had hoped to create a head-worn device that could capture language, translating electrical signals from the brain into digital information. Despite the fascinating premise of a social media company developing potentially the first consumer BCI for language use, the company decided to step back from the project last year, open sourcing its existing language research and concentrating on BCIs that captured nerve signals-related movement, rather than language, instead.
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Could optical brain imaging helmets be the future of wearable technology?

11 Mar 2022
Natalie Rhodes

Recent years have seen huge advances in brain imaging technologies, allowing neuroscientists to explore and investigate how our brains work in more detail than ever before. To date, however, these technologies have remained in laboratory settings, with controlled experiments designed to investigate specific functions. Researchers at Kernel, a US-based neurotechnology company, hope to change this, freeing brain imaging from the laboratory and planting it in daily life. Earlier this year, Kernel researchers introduced their new device, the “Kernel Flow”, in the Journal of Biomedical Optics.

The Kernel Flow builds upon the brain imaging technique of time domain-functional near-infrared spectroscopy (TD-fNIRs). fNIRs uses light in the near-infrared spectrum to measure changes in light absorption by the haemoglobin in the blood circulating in the brain. Such changes can provide information on brain function, as the haemoglobin concentration changes in functioning areas of the brain because they require oxygen to power this activity.

[...]

The researchers, however, acknowledge the limitations of fNIRs, and are evaluating the performance of their system on different hair and skin types, which can influence the effectiveness of optical brain imaging tools. While the Kernel Flow is not quite as commercially viable as your smart watch (yet), its introduction and the promise of commercial systems available as soon as 2024 suggests that brain function measurements may soon be as accessible as heart rate or sleep tracking.

Read more: https://physicsworld.com/a/could-optica ... echnology/


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