The team, led by Duan Feng, professor of artificial intelligence at Nankai University, says this is a breakthrough in brain-computer interface technology.
The development, which has not yet been peer-reviewed and announced on the university’s website, can be used in the field of medical technology in the future.
Many companies are currently working on brain chips. But these chips need to be surgically implanted directly into people’s brains. Since many people find these surgeries dangerous, they do not favor chip technology. Because an inflammatory response may also occur in the organ due to surgery.
However, Chinese researchers emphasize that their invention does not bring brain surgery. The researchers implanted their tiny device into the animal’s vessel wall, just like cardiac stents.
The stent placed in the carotid artery moved spontaneously from there to the cerebral motor cortex, which controls the body’s movements.
An electroencephalogram (EEG) sensor that can record brain activity was placed on the stent.
This sensor collected electrical signals from the brain and sent them to an external device. It has been reported that the robotic arm was moved with brain signals from the monkeys after the procedure.
This development may play an important role in providing mobility to people who cannot move due to paralysis and various diseases in the future.