A future in which we can drive cars or smartphones exclusively with our minds is around the corner. But the cost can be invasive surgery. Ever since neuroscientists and engineers began working on interfaces that would connect our brains and machines, people began to wonder about bizarre and surprising uses for this technology. What if we could change TV channels just by thinking about it? Or drive a car without a steering wheel or pedals?
In theory, there's no reason why we can't make mind-controlled bionic suits, like the one Robert Downey Jr. had in Iron Man, or turn our brains into universal remote controls that can control any device. in the House. But even with the best technological approach, there are risks associated with connecting our minds to machines.
Aren't machines driven by the power of thought yet?
There are several consumer toys that promise to work with the power of thought, but none of them will allow you to control an Iron Man suit yet. Available devices include a skull headset that lets you control a video game, and a fan that blows a ball through a hoop using your brain waves. The downside to these consumer products is that they read your brain activity through a relatively thick cranial bone blockage.
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How about brain implants?
Medicine is creating more advanced options for people who are paralyzed or have lost limbs. Last year, the paralyzed woman received a small sensor implanted in the left side of her brain that allowed her to “touch” the tablet's touchscreen using a small device via Bluetooth. Other surgeons from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine installed 128 electrode probes in the young man's part of the motor cortex that controls hand and arm movements, and this allowed him to wiggle individual fingers of the bionic hand.
Neurosurgeon Jeffrey Rosenfeld of Monash University and his colleagues are developing "bionic eyes" that will connect directly to the brain and give vision to the blind. The idea is that signals from a pair of glasses will be transmitted directly to an implant in the visual cortex. This improvement will help restore vision in 85% of clinically blind people. Since the information is transmitted directly to the brain, the technology promises to help those who don't get anything from retinal implants, another form of bionic eye. Human trials are scheduled for 2017.
The interfaces connecting people's brains to prostheses are getting better, but they have one drawback. To ensure that the electrical signals from the brain are clearly read, surgeons must open or penetrate the skull to implant electrodes directly on the surface of the brain. This type of operation has obvious risks, and after a while, scar tissue may form around the electrode, which will drown out the signal.
Is there a more gentle way to get clear signals without going into your skull?
There is a less radical method, but so far it has only been tested on sheep. Nicholas Opie and colleagues at the University of Melbourne, Royal Melbourne Hospital and the Flory Institute for Neuroscience and Mental Health are developing a device called a "stentrode" that is so tiny it fits in a human blood vessel. Surgeons insert a thin, flexible stent into a blood vessel in the groin and then guide the device through the body into the motor cortex, the command center for controlling body movements in the brain. There, the stentrode is in the blood vessel, collecting signals 24/7.
Ultimately, scientists want the stentrode to "communicate" with the exoskeleton and restore mobility to people who have lost limbs. Paralyzed patients - most likely young people after an unfortunate case - will be able to receive the device for testing in Melbourne as early as late 2017.
Also, one day it will be possible to direct the stentrode down a different path, into the sensory cortex of the brain. This will allow people using bionic limbs to “feel” what they are touching and will open up many other possibilities for recovery. “When you lift an egg, it’s important not to squeeze too hard, which means feedback is needed,” says David Griden, project engineer.
So we all will soon get thought-driven devices?
If the human trial is successful, the stentrode could be commercially available within six years. But although the stent is less invasive than surgery directly on the brain, it still requires the device to be placed in the brain. Some people will choose safety at first, Greyden says, but he can't say when people will implant electrodes purely for convenience.
ILYA KHEL
