Neural interfaces create a direct link between the brain and a device like a computer to enable communication, and the monitoring, recording, or stimulating of neural activity. These interfaces have a wide array of potential applications, and may one day be used to treat neurological diseases or potentially enhance human abilities. Nature named brain-computer interfaces the technology of the year for 2023.
Scientists have now developed an interface that can take electrical recordings or stimulate brain activity through a new method called endocisternal interfaces (ECI). This technique can interact with both the brain and spinal cord, using the cerebrospinal fluid that encases these structures. Traditional methods once required scientists or doctors to make a hole in the skull to achieve the same results. But this novel method is minimally invasive and carries less risk. The work has been reported in Nature Biomedical Engineering.
“Using ECI, we can access multiple brain and spinal cord structures simultaneously without ever opening up the skull, reducing the risk of complications associated with traditional surgical techniques,” said co-corresponding study author Jacob Robinson, a professor at Rice University.
In this method, a small puncture is made to the lumbar area of the spinal cord in the lower back, where a flexible catheter is used to move through CSF, and access the spinal cord and brain. Miniature, magnetoelectric devices are deployed in a wireless system, and the flexible catheter can move through the spinal area to the brain vesicles.
“This is the first reported technique that enables a neural interface to simultaneously access the brain and spinal cord through a simple and minimally invasive lumbar puncture,” said co-corresponding study author Peter Kan, a Professor and Chair of Neurosurgery at the University of Texas Medical Branch. “It introduces new possibilities for therapies in stroke rehabilitation, epilepsy monitoring, and other neurological applications.”
The researchers confirmed that catheter electrodes could be inserted and sent through areas of the brain to deliver stimulation.
A magnetoelectric implant was used to record electrophysiology signals that cause muscle movement. The ECI remained functional with little damage to the device for as many as thirty days after it had been implanted into the brains of a sheep model.
“This technology creates a new paradigm for minimally invasive neural interfaces and could lower the risk of implantable neurotechnologies, enabling access to wider patient populations,” said first study author Josh Chen.
Sources: Rice University, Nature Biomedical Engineering
