The Brain-Machine Interface, Unplugged

In experiments and even limited human clinical trials, electrode arrays implanted on the brain´s surface have given monkeys and humans the ability to move objects with their thoughts. The experiments are proof that brain-computer interfaces could improve the lives of severely paralyzed people. But these systems rely on wires snaking out from the skull, which would affect a person´s mobility WWW.SPECTRUM.IEEE.ORG and leave an opening in the scalp prone to infection. Wireless brain-machine interfaces would be much more practical and could be implanted in several different areas of the brain to tap into more neurons. A typical scheme would have electrodes penetrating brain tissue, picking up neuronal electrical impulses, called spikes. A chip would amplify and process the signals and transmit them over a broadband RF connection through the skull to a receiver. Then, just as in wired systems, algorithms would decode these signals into commands for operating a computer or a robot.