New startup begins implanting Neural interfaces that enables communication from paralyzed patients

[williamcll]

Managed to be one step ahead of Elon's Neuralink project, this company has begin installing BCIs to people which allows them to use the internet through thoughts alone.

Quotes

Quote

On July 6 a doctor at the Mount Sinai West medical center in New York threaded a 1.5-inch-long implant made up of wires and electrodes into a blood vessel in the brain of a patient with ALS, or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. The hope is that the patient, who’s lost the ability to move and speak, will be able to surf the web and communicate via email and text simply by thinking—the device will translate his thoughts into commands sent to a computer. Synchron, the startup behind the technology, has already implanted its devices in four patients in Australia, who haven’t experienced side effects and have been able to carry out such tasks as sending WhatsApp messages and making online purchases. The recent procedure was the first the company has done in the US, putting it ahead of competitors including Elon Musk’s Neuralink Corp. “This surgery was special because of its implications and huge potential,” says Dr. Shahram Majidi, the neurointerventional surgeon who performed it.

 

A doctor makes an incision in the patient’s neck and feeds the stentrode via a catheter through the jugular vein into a blood vessel nestled within the motor cortex. As the catheter is removed, the stentrode—a cylindrical, hollow wire mesh—opens up and begins to fuse with the outer edges of the vessel. According to Majidi, the process is very similar to implanting a coronary stent and takes just a few minutes. A second procedure then connects the stentrode via a wire to a computing device implanted in the patient’s chest. To do this, the surgeon must create a tunnel for the wire and a pocket for the device underneath the patient’s skin, much like what’s done to accommodate a pacemaker. The stentrode reads the signals when neurons fire in the brain, and the computing device amplifies those signals and sends them out to a computer or smartphone via Bluetooth. Although this may make some people squeamish, it’s far less invasive than the current state-of-the-art technology, known as the Utah array, which requires doctors to cut the scalp and drill into the skull to place rigid needles in the brain. Those then attach to a lime-size device placed on top of a person’s head.

 

In the months and years ahead, Synchron aims to shrink the size of its devices while increasing their computing power. If it’s successful, the company would be able to place numerous stentrodes in each patient in different parts of the brain, allowing them to perform more functions. Oxley expects that his technology will help generate a flood of new data and insights into how the brain works and could lead to breakthroughs with a number of disorders, including mental health issues. “I feel like we are at the beginning of a renaissance around brain decoding,” he says.

 

My thoughts

I have no mouth and I must whatsapp 

That said, this is a pretty good step in BCI communication. Hope they can start routing nerves soon.

Sources

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-07-18/brain-computer-interface-company-implants-new-type-of-device

[Salv8 (sam)]

can't wait for the next form of ransomware, where instead of it encrypting your files, it encrypts your memories!

 

this is a good idea, but does it HAVE to be connected to the internet? thats just asking for trouble...

[Sauron]

1 hour ago, williamcll said:

Managed to be one step ahead of Elon's Neuralink project

Probably because neuralink is a bullshit PR stunt project that seems more interested in torturing monkeys than delivering a product.

[X-System]

6 hours ago, Salv8 (sam) said:

can't wait for the next form of ransomware, where instead of it encrypting your files, it encrypts your memories!

 

this is a good idea, but does it HAVE to be connected to the internet? thats just asking for trouble...

Like in Ghost in the Shell ?

 

[CephDigital]

Cool. Scary, but cool.

[Doobeedoo]

I've see this stuff before as in WIP but yeah cool but not when anything to do with internet or company owning the implant in some way.

Reminds me of Deus Ex and GitS though.

[Senzelian]

The U.S. army will find ways to use this to save the world from communist nazi zombies that they made up.

[ouroesa]

17 hours ago, Salv8 (sam) said:

this is a good idea, but does it HAVE to be connected to the internet? thats just asking for trouble...

Where is this stated? Don't see it in the article. Maybe I missed it.

[Brooksie359]

1 hour ago, ouroesa said:

Where is this stated? Don't see it in the article. Maybe I missed it.

It literally says the goal is to allow them to surf the web and communicate through email and text. 

[ouroesa]

So it doesn’t say that....you are 'misinterpreting' what is stated. Nowhere is stated that the device will not function without an internet connection. Similar to saying a keyboard HAS to be connected to the internet because it has a web browser shortcut key. It should still function perfectly without internet and can possibly be used for a myriad of other things.
The way I read it, it simply a links to a Bluetooth device to simulate inputs (input device) - "the device will translate his thoughts into commands sent to a computer".

 

Tired of people incorrectly assuming/interpreting things just to complain, if you are going to do that, at least do it for good.