Brain Implant News and Research

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Scientists can now control neural circuits using smartphone

A team of scientists in Korea and the United States have invented a device that can control neural circuits using a tiny brain implant controlled by a smartphone.

5 Aug 2019

UTA electrical engineer working to develop bioresorbable optical probe for brain implant

A University of Texas at Arlington electrical engineer is working in collaboration with a pioneer in the field to develop an implantable optical probe that can be inserted in the brain and used to monitor brain function after traumatic injuries or surgeries, then be absorbed by the body.

8 Nov 2018

New brain implant may help treat Parkinson's disease

Deep brain stimulation has been used to treat Parkinson's disease symptoms for 25 years, but limitations have led researchers to look for ways to improve the technique.

30 May 2018

Researchers develop stable brain implant based on anti-inflammatory coating

Complex neurotechnological devices are required to directly select and influence brain waves inside the skull's interior. Although it has become relatively easy to implement the devices, researchers are still faced with challenges when trying to keep them running properly in living organisms over time.

5 Apr 2017

Man with quadriplegia uses implanted technologies to restore arm and hand movements

Bill Kochevar grabbed a mug of water, drew it to his lips and drank through the straw. His motions were slow and deliberate, but then Kochevar hadn't moved his right arm or hand for eight years.

29 Mar 2017

Research shows how paralyzed limbs can be controlled via implanted electrodes

Patients with spinal cord injuries might one day regain use of paralyzed arms and legs thanks to research that demonstrates how limbs can be controlled via a tiny array of implanted electrodes.

23 Nov 2016

Brain implant enables ALS patient to operate speech computer with the mind

In the UMC Utrecht a brain implant has been placed in a patient enabling her to operate a speech computer with her mind.

15 Nov 2016

Wireless brain–spine interface enables primates with spinal cord injury to walk again

Scientists have developed a wireless brain implant that restores movement in the legs of paralyzed macaques, enabling the animals to walk again.

10 Nov 2016

Brain implant enables paralyzed man to move his hand

Researchers have developed an electrical device that has helped a quadriplegic man to move his hand, wrist and several fingers, enabling him to carry out basic movements such as picking up a bottle and pouring a glass of water.

14 Apr 2016

INS announces winners of inaugural best abstract competition at 12th World Congress

The International Neuromodulation Society (INS) announced winners today of its inaugural best abstract competition at the 12th World Congress in Montreal.

10 Jun 2015

New technique to accommodate challenges inherent in brain-implantation technology

On August 20, JoVE, the Journal of Visualized Experiments will publish a technique from the Capadona Lab at Case Western Reserve University to accommodate two challenges inherent in brain-implantation technology, gauging the property changes that occur during implantation and measuring on a micro-scale.

21 Aug 2013

MIT engineers develop new glucose-powered implantable medical device

MIT engineers have developed a fuel cell that runs on the same sugar that powers human cells: glucose. This glucose fuel cell could be used to drive highly efficient brain implants of the future, which could help paralyzed patients move their arms and legs again.

14 Jun 2012

Johns Hopkins devises new seizure detection software

Epilepsy affects 50 million people worldwide, but in a third of these cases, medication cannot keep seizures from occurring. One solution is to shoot a short pulse of electricity to the brain to stamp out the seizure just as it begins to erupt. But brain implants designed to do this have run into a stubborn problem: too many false alarms, triggering unneeded treatment. To solve this, Johns Hopkins biomedical engineers have devised new seizure detection software that, in early testing, significantly cuts the number of unneeded pulses of current that an epilepsy patient would receive.

4 Apr 2012

Flexible brain implant could treat epileptic seizures

Researchers funded by the National Institutes of Health have developed a flexible brain implant that could one day be used to treat epileptic seizures. In animal studies, the researchers used the device - a type of electrode array that conforms to the brain's surface - to take an unprecedented look at the brain activity underlying seizures.

14 Nov 2011

Brain implant surgery can improve life for people with cervical dystonia

Implanting electrodes into a pea-sized part of the brain can dramatically improve life for people with severe cervical dystonia - a rare but extremely debilitating condition that causes painful, twisting neck muscle spasms - according to the results of a pilot study led by Jill Ostrem, MD and Philip Starr, MD PhD at the University of California, San Francisco.

9 Mar 2011

Researchers use new tools to study how brain responds when injury occurs

Researchers at four institutions, led by Stanford University and Brown University, have begun an effort with more than $14 million of federal funding to learn both how the brain and its microcircuitry react to sudden physiological changes and what can be done to encourage recovery from injury.

6 May 2010

Study shows ultrathin flexible implants can effectively record brain activity

Scientists have developed a brain implant that essentially melts into place, snugly fitting to the brain's surface. The technology could pave the way for better devices to monitor and control seizures, and to transmit signals from the brain past damaged parts of the spinal cord.

19 Apr 2010

Brain implant helps scientists in determining link between brainwave patterns and attention

A paralyzed patient implanted with a brain-computer interface device has allowed scientists to determine the relationship between brain waves and attention.

25 Feb 2010