In recent decades, advances in neuroscience and information technology have led to the development of a fascinating field, such as Brain-Computer Interfaces (BCIs). These innovative systems enable people to interact with different sorts of devices, mostly using the human brain. Thus, the door was opened to something that reminds one of futuristic science fiction. In this article, we will explain how BCIs work and their main applications.
What are Brain-Computer Interfaces?
BCIs are very sophisticated systems that translate neuronal signals and convert them into productive signals that command other outside devices with no possibility of bodily movement. It entails the collection of the brain’s net electricity, using this record to run a processing algorithm and feeding back relative set signals to a device for thought command.
Here are the main steps of how these interfaces work:
Measurement of Neuronal Signals
In order for BCI to work, one has to capture the brain’s electrical activity. Non-invasive methods such as electroencephalography (EEG) and invasive ones like placing brain implants are used in this process. EEG involves putting electrodes on the scalp to measure neural activities’ voltage fluctuations, while invasive procedures necessitate the placement of devices in the brain that capture signals more precisely.
Decoding and Interpretation of Signals
The next stage of BCI operation involves a processor taking the captured signals and studying them, trying to identify particular thought patterns or motor intentions. In this case, artificial intelligence and machine learning algorithms are trained to recognize different mental states or intended user commands. During the training process, the system learns how individuals’ brains differ.
Translation into Executable Commands
After a particular brain activity pattern is found, the BCI system converts it into a command for an external device. This final translation entails the transformation of the interpreted signals into instructions comprehensible and actionable by the software or the hardware of the controlled device, which may range from a cursor on a screen to a robotic prosthetic or a communication aid.
Feedback
To enhance the quality and effectiveness of interaction, most BCI systems’ design consists of a feedback loop. Thus, the user can get information about the outcome of his actions (for example, proper movement of a cursor), thereby making corrections to the given mental commands. In whatever form, be it visual, auditory, or touch feedback, it is a very important part of the closed-loop learning for both the user, and the BCI system.
Main Applications of Brain-Computer Interfaces
The applications of BCI are diverse and ever-expanding, with the potential to transform numerous fields:
Medicine—BCIs represent hope for giving patients with neurological disorders a new chance. For instance, the paralyzed find this technology useful to control prosthetic limbs or speak through speech synthesis. They can also aid in the rehabilitation of patients who have undergone a stroke since they enhance neuroplasticity.
Virtual Reality and Gaming – The use of BCIs, in collaboration with virtual reality and video games, ensures that individuals playing the games feel and experience actual control without the help of their hands.
User Interfaces – BCIs can be viewed as a tool that can significantly change and improve the communication and control between people and computers, as well as other smart devices.
Neuralink’s first-in-human brain implant malfunctioned
It is moving toward its goal of treating those with neurological disorders as, at the end of January, Elon Musk claimed that Neuralink had performed the first operation on a human patient. Noticing that same patient later on, the founder of the company stated that that patient had regained the ability to walk and move a computer mouse with his mind, respectively.
However, three months later, the company admitted that part of its brain implant malfunctioned in the weeks following its first in-human procedure.
Neuralink is a company established in 2016 by Elon Musk along with engineers who intend to design a brain-machine interface, which is a chip that will be implanted in the human brain. The company says that the technology could make ventilator-dependent patients with spinal cord injuries or other muscular-skeletal diseases walk or at least sit up on their own, speak, and see again. According to its website, the company’s system, called the Link, records neural signals using 1,024 electrodes across 64 “threads” that are thinner than a human hair.
But, as we are about to see, Neuralink isn’t the first company to create a brain implant.
Neuralink isn’t the first company to create a brain implant
In September 2023, a company from the Netherlands called Onward stated that it was conducting a trial related to an enhanced form of spinal cord stimulation that is roughly connected with brain chips. This is the objective of enabling people with paraplegia to have an opportunity of surmounting their mobility challenges. This can be another lifetime breakthrough for those who experience paralysis at this level. Walking and climbing stairs became possible after the surgery, and distances up to 100 meters are manageable.
As part of an experiment aimed at assisted paralyzed individuals, a team of researchers at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne developed this virtual connection between the spine and brain.
In 2019, the Grenoble Clinatec Institute released a video showing the functional model of a brain-controlled exoskeleton for people who are immobilized. Different groups of scientists have developed the current prototype over the past ten years. It has electrodes inserted beneath the skin of the scalp, from which they can pick up signals produced by one’s brain and translate them into instructions for movement.
Conclusion
Brain-computer interfaces are a forefront sector in the fields of technology and neuroscience that can help to enhance the quality of lives of disabled individuals, enhance the ways of human-computer interaction and let people try their new physical potential. But, the emergence of this technology also poses many difficult ethical questions such as privacy, informed consent, the issue of autonomy, and social inequality.
Addressing these issues requires society’s awareness to avoid the misuse or improper application of the BCI technology, hence the need to embrace responsible development and use. All these will be done by BCI, pushing not just the technological limit, but the moral one as well.
