Brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) connect the human brain to a computer, allowing paralyzed patients to perform tasks with their mind alone. Noninvasive BCIs can also be used as computer input devices, but invasive BCIs offer higher resolution. BCIs have been successful in animal research and models since the 1970s, and the first human implant was in 1998. The first commercialization of BCIs was in 2002, allowing blind patients to regain their sight. In 2005, a quadriplegic controlled a prosthetic arm using a brain implant developed by Cyberkinetics Neurotechnology.
Brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) with a longer history in science fiction (since the 1950s) and animal research and models (since the 1970s) than in practical implants for humans (the 1990s). A brain-computer interface connects a human brain directly to a computer, where neural signals are interpreted and used to perform tasks such as manipulating a mouse. In this way, a paralyzed patient can surf the net or even move a prosthetic arm with his mind alone.
Healthy people can even use noninvasive brain-computer interfaces as another type of computer input device, such as a mouse or keyboard, although this technology has yet to be commercialized. Brain-computer interfaces can also send information to the brain, for example by using electrodes to stimulate the visual cortex to “see” a scene captured by an external video camera, allowing blind patients to regain their sight, even if far from perfectly.
Several technologies have been used successfully to get basic signals from the brain and into a computer. These are divided into invasive BCI, in which electrodes are implanted in the gray matter of the brain; partially invasive BCIs, implanted inside the skull but resting only on the top of the brain; and noninvasive BCIs, which involve plastic devices that slip over the head like a shower cap. In general, the more invasive the BCI, the more scar tissue, possible complications, and expense, but the higher the resolution of the input and output.
Beginning with implants in rats in the early 1990s, brain implants were developed that allowed control of external manipulators or cursors. Monkeys were next to receive the implants and the species continues to be the target of the most sophisticated BCI research today. The big milestone for humans came in 1998, when a patient named Johnny Ray, who was suffering from “stuck syndrome” due to a brainstem stroke, was given an implant and, after several weeks of training , he could use it to manipulate a cursor and spell words. This was a transformative experience for the patient: without the implant, he would have been completely unable to contact the outside world, only able to silently observe and reflect until he died. BCI opened a channel of communication and immeasurably improved the patient’s quality of life.
In 2002, Jens Naumann, a man who went blind in adulthood, became the first of 16 paying patients to receive a vision implant from William Dobelle, a pioneer in the field. At this point, the miniaturization of computers and quality cameras made it possible to install the implant without the need for a connection to a large mainframe, as had been required for previous attempts in this direction. The implant only offered black-and-white vision at a relatively slow frame rate, but it was sufficient for the patient to slowly drive a car around the research institute’s parking lot. This was the very first commercialization of brain-computer interfaces.
In 2005, quadriplegic Matt Nagle became the first person to control a prosthetic arm using a brain implant, developed by the Cyberkinetics Neurotechnology company under the product name BrainGate. Cyberkinetic Neurotech still seeks to be the first company to bring BCIs to the public in a big way.
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