Not only does the first wireless brain-computer interface (BCI) able to give people with paralysis the power to type on computers with their minds, but it also gives them the ability to do so wherever they are, a study published in IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering showed.
Brain Computer Interface That Sits on Top of Head
Conventional BCIs are linked to large transmitters using long cables, but a team of researchers at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, has removed the cords and replaced the cables with a small transmitter that is placed on top of the person's head.
This redesigned BCI is merely two inches in diameter and linked to an electrode array within the motor cortex of the user's brain through the same port wired systems utilize.
In the trial, which researchers call BrainGate, two paralyzed men with spinal injuries could type and click on the tablet by simply thinking of the action. They completed the tasks with point-and-click accuracy and typing speeds similar in wired systems.
The technology is akin to Elon Musk's BCI called Neuralink, which is currently under development, which is a device that will be implanted in the patient's brain. However, unlike Neuralink, BrainGate is visible, and a concrete example of the innovation tested on humans. Neuralink has only been tested in pigs and monkeys.
Gold Standard for BCIs
The study's lead author, John Simeral, assistant professor of engineering at Brown University, said in a Daily Mail report, "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.'
Recorded and transmitted signals in similar fidelity show that the decoding algorithms can be used the same way as wired systems. The only distinction is that people need no physical connection to the equipment, bringing many possibilities on how the system can be utilized.
Among the study participants were a 35-year-old man and a 65-year-old man, both suffering from spinal cord injuries that made them paralyzed. The men used the BCIs in their homes, unlike previous tests wherein studies were done in labs.
They used the BCIs for 24 hours, providing researchers with long-period data even as the participants slept. Researchers said they were able to study the participants' brain activities in long durations that were previously impossible.
Restoring Mobility and Communication for the Paralyzed
The findings will help the researchers decode algorithms that would give seamless, intuitive, dependable restoration of mobility and communication for a paralyzed person. The latest study continues the BrainGate trials that started in 2012 that used a wired system to let participants operate prosthetics by just thinking of the movement.
Before this most recent study, improvements were bolstered by new clinical innovations enabling people to use their tablets and type on computers, which directing movement on their paralyzed limbs.
This evolution of intracortical BCIs, researchers added, is a major step forward in the use of high-performance implanted neural systems. Moving forward to reducing transmitted bandwidth while maintaining the accuracy of the equipment's device control, the study captures the full array of cortical signals over long periods, even in those times when the BCI is used, they further said.
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