[ExI] Scientists Completed the First Human Trial of a Wireless High-Bandwidth Brain-Computer Interface

John Grigg possiblepaths2050 at gmail.com
Fri Apr 16 11:27:11 UTC 2021


"Brain-computer
<https://singularityhub.com/tag/brain-computer-interface/>interface
technology is advancing rapidly, but it currently relies on wires that
seriously limit its use in everyday applications. That could soon change,
though, as researchers recently completed the first human trial of a
high-bandwidth wireless neural interface.

The most accurate way to record brain signals today is by using a device
called an intracortical brain-computer interface (BCI), which involves an
array of electrodes being implanted into a patient’s motor cortex. Signals
from these electrodes then pass to a port in their skull, which connects to
cables that transmit the signal to an external computer.

The highly invasive nature of the implantation procedure means the devices
are still only used for research in a very small number of patients. But
there’s been major progress in the kinds of things users have been able to
accomplish using these devices, from typing on computers to controlling
robotic prosthetics
<https://singularityhub.com/2019/07/31/beyond-mind-controlled-robotic-limbs-to-prosthetics-that-can-actually-feel/>
and even moving paralyzed limbs.

But the fact that users need to be physically wired into these systems
seriously limits the activities they can perform, as well as researchers’
ability to test them over long periods of time and in diverse settings. Now
though, a team from Brown University has shown that a wireless BCI can
record brain signals with the same fidelity as a wired device for up to 24
hours in a patient’s home.

“We’ve demonstrated that this wireless system is functionally equivalent to
the wired systems that have been the gold standard in BCI performance for
years,” study leader John Simeral, from Brown University, said in a press
release <https://www.brown.edu/news/2021-03-31/braingate-wireless>.

“The only difference is that people no longer need to be physically
tethered to our equipment, which opens up new possibilities in terms of how
the system can be used.”

https://singularityhub.com/2021/04/12/scientists-completed-the-first-human-trial-of-a-wireless-high-bandwidth-brain-computer-interface/
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.extropy.org/pipermail/extropy-chat/attachments/20210416/05315839/attachment.htm>


More information about the extropy-chat mailing list