Researchers at Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne in Switzerland have designed an advanced neural chip that can detect and suppress symptoms from a variety of #neurological disorders, including #Parkinson’s and #epilepsy.
The closed-loop neuromodulation system, which the researchers have called NeuralTree, includes soft implantable electrodes, a processor for machine learning, and a 256 channel sensing array.
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Neuromodulation offers enormous hope for those with neurological disorders, and the technology is developing apace. The concept of an implanted chip that can reduce or negate neurological symptoms before they arise is like something from a science fiction novel, but here we are. This latest neural chip is unique in that it can address the symptoms of several neurological disorders and boasts some advanced capabilities.
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𝘕𝘦𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘭𝘛𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘧𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘯𝘦𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘭 𝘯𝘦𝘵𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘦𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘨𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘮. 𝘐𝘵’𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘸𝘦’𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘢 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘹, 𝘺𝘦𝘵 𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘨𝘺-𝘦𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘯𝘦𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘭 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘣𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘢𝘴𝘬𝘴, 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘦𝘪𝘻𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘳 𝘥𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘢𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘴 𝘮𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘪-𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘢𝘴𝘬𝘴 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘢𝘴 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘯𝘦𝘶𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘤 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴. - Mahsa Shoaran, lead developer
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The chip monitors brain waves, looking for signs of an upcoming neurological event, such as a seizure. Once it has identified such a neurological biomarker, a neurostimulator in the chip sends an electrical pulse through the implanted electrodes to block the aberrant activity. The chip includes 256 input channels, which is significantly more than the 32 that previous similar devices permitted.
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𝘛𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘭𝘦𝘥𝘨𝘦, 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘥𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘗𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘪𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘳 𝘥𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘯 𝘰𝘯-𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘱 𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘦𝘳. 𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺, 𝘸𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘭 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘭𝘨𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘮𝘪𝘤 𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘥𝘷𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘱 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯. 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘳𝘦𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘭𝘢𝘣𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘚𝘰𝘧𝘵 𝘉𝘪𝘰𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘪𝘤 𝘐𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘦𝘴, 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘥𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘱 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦-𝘰𝘧-𝘵𝘩𝘦-𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘯𝘦𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘭 𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘥𝘦𝘴, 𝘰𝘳 𝘭𝘢𝘣𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘪𝘨𝘩-𝘲𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘢.