Recently, China's first "brain-computer interface" reactive closed-loop neurostimulation system implantation surgery was successfully completed. The implantation of the system means that China has independent intellectual property rights of the "brain-computer interface" high-tech products have come to the last step before the full range of clinical use.
It is reported that the closed-loop reactive neurostimulation system for the "brain-computer interface" in the clinical field of important applications, the technology through the artificial intelligence chip implanted in the skull, intracranial electrodes implanted in the brain, around the clock uninterrupted monitoring of the brain electrical rhythm, once predicted the imminent occurrence of epilepsy will be initiated to exogenous interference rhythm, directly blocking the epilepsy formation within the epileptogenic foci.
Another realization of cyberpunk technology
Friends interested in future technologies should be no stranger to the Cyberpunk 2077 game, where you can experience different "black technologies" that bring freshness and excitement. In the game, you can experience the freshness and excitement brought by different "black technologies", such as robots, AR, VR, bionic man, memory transplantation technology, intelligent tracking weapons and so on. As one of the representative technologies, bionic human technology is similar to the brain-computer interface.
Bionic human is a combination of machinery and people, where people can gain better capabilities through the machinery, and control the machinery by "reading" the basic instructions from the brain.
Brain-computer interfaces, on the other hand, require that we not only read information in the brain, but also "write" it, i.e., be able to react to it in addition to perceiving it. As a user interface, the user can read the information in the brain through the computer, and after computational processing, the signals are converted into relevant feedback instructions, and the computer can accept commands from the brain, or also send signals to the brain.
As mentioned in the news, brain-computer interfaces can not only do the job of detecting dangerous signals, but also interfering with them and stopping them, thus preventing dangerous behavior from occurring. With brain-computer interface technology in the medical field, more patients are on the verge of getting a new lease on life.
The History of Brain-Computer Interface Technology
It is said that the form of brain-computer interface can be categorized as non-invasive, semi-invasive, and invasive according to the location of the acquisition in the brain. The biggest difference between them is whether or not invasive surgery is used on the brain to acquire neuronal information. In the non-invasive mode, the action is only on the scalp; in the semi-invasive mode, the device is implanted between the scalp and the cerebral cortex; and in the invasive mode, it is implanted entirely in the cerebral cortex.
Brain-computer interface technology may seem sci-fi, but it has been studied since the 20th century.
In the 1970s, humans conducted the first studies of brain-computer interfaces geared toward motor function, and demonstrated that monkeys could quickly learn and freely control the firing frequency of individual neurons in the primary motor cortex after closed-loop operant conditioning. However, most of the research at that stage was conducted on animals until the 1990s, when there was a rapid development of motion-oriented brain-computer interfaces, allowing people to capture neural signals and control external devices in real time with the technology.
Thanks to years of experimental work with animals, brain-computer interfaces were gradually applied to humans, with early implantable devices such as cochlear implants that could be used to help restore impaired hearing, limb movement, vision, and more.
Most impressively, during the opening ceremony of the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, Juliano Pinto, a young man with paraplegia, was able to kick off the ball by gradually restoring his lower limbs through brain-computer interfaces, while using artificial exoskeletons to drive an exoskeleton robot to walk.
In China, Zhejiang University also completed the first clinical translational study of implantable brain-computer interfaces in 2020, where patients can use cortical signals to accurately control external robotic arms and manipulators to realize movement in three-dimensional space.
In recent years, with the continuous development of brain-computer interface technology, many companies have also begun to layout in the field of brain-computer interface.
Speaking of brain-computer interfaces, Neruallink, a neuroscience company invested by Musk, can be considered a representative enterprise in this field. Neuralink has implanted a chip in the surface layer of the brain of an experimental pig, and then wirelessly transmitted the pig's brain movements to a computer for observation. They have also implanted the same chip in the arms and hands of monkeys, so that the monkeys can use their minds to control the movement of the cursor and catch the ping-pong balls moving in the game.
In "invasive" brain-computer interface research on the human body, Musk's Neuralink offers a safer approach by reducing the size of a craniotomy to the size of a dime, thereby reducing trauma to the brain.
In addition to foreign technology companies, in recent years, there are also a number of domestic brain-computer interface as the main business of high-tech enterprises, such as research in the direction of invasive brain-computer interfaces, founded in 2011, Borecon Neuracle, founded in 2016, Kodou Brain Machine Technology, created in 2019, Ning Moment NeuraMatrix and Neural Galaxy, and 2021, Neural Galaxy. NeuraMatrix and Neural Galaxy in 2019, and NeuroXess in 2021. The company utilizes brain-computer interfaces, artificial intelligence, and other technologies to provide technical support in the fields of healthcare, entertainment, and manufacturing.
Conclusion
Throughout the decades of development of brain-computer interface technology, human research on brain-computer interfaces has evolved from animal to human body, from minimally invasive to non-invasive, and from the medical field to other areas of life, which has brought convenience to people's lives, but there are also some concerns. After all, the chip implanted in the brain-computer interface will not have the same emotional changes as human beings, and when faced with a decision, only the algorithm decides to execute, and there will be no hesitation. Human beings have emotions, and they may only think about dangerous behavior for a while, but they don't want to act on it. If a brain-computer interface is installed, it may be able to directly execute that behavior, posing a threat to social security.
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