We will break the walls with our mind power – Hi-Tech – Kommersant

Last week, it became known that the American company Synchron, which received financial support from Bill Gates and Jeffrey Bezos, has begun a new stage of clinical trials of its brain computer interface (BCI) system. It allows paralyzed people to control a computer with just the power of thought – without a complex surgical operation to implant an electrode into the brain. By the middle of the year, Elon Musk’s Neuralink company plans to enter clinical trials with its BCI system. Meanwhile, consultations are already underway in the UK, the US and the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) to develop regulations for the burgeoning brain-computer interface industry.

The doctor said: “In the brain” means in the brain

Last week it became known that the developer of the brain-computer interface, Synchron, proceeds to a new stage of clinical trials of their minimally invasive Stentrode device. In an interview with CNBC, Synchron Chief Commercial Officer Kurt Haggström said that six volunteers would take part in the new phase. In August 2020, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted Synchron a preliminary permission on the Stentrode device, which captures the neuroimpulses of paralyzed patients. A year later, the FDA cleared Synchron to begin clinical trials of the device. Last July, the first device from Synchron was established US patient.

The main goal of the trials is to understand how the new technology will allow paralyzed people “to do such ordinary things as chatting on the Internet, receiving and sending emails, buying goods online, using telemedicine services and, in general, the ability to live an independent daily life.”

After its early successes, Synchron attracted the attention of major investors, including Microsoft founder Bill Gates and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. In December last year, they, along with a number of other investors and venture capital funds, invested $75 million in the company, which went to prepare a new, larger round of clinical trials.

Several dozen companies are already developing BCI systems at an advanced stage. Among the leaders only in the United States are observers list at least seven – for example, Blackrock Neurotech, which conducted the first tests of its implants more than 20 years ago, as well as Elon Musk’s Neuralink. And if Elon Musk’s startup will start clinical trials in the middle of this year, Blackrock Neurotech is one of the first companies in the world to achieve practical results in this area.

To date, Blackrock Neurotech’s BCI technology has been tested by 32 people for over 30,000 days (about 82 years) and no serious side effects have been recorded so far.

However, this technology involves a rather complicated invasive method, when, with the help of a surgical operation, a microchip is implanted directly into the brain of a paralyzed person. disadvantages Such technologies are gradual scarring of the implant insertion area, gradual electrode corrosion, possible implant rejection, and gradual signal weakening. All this requires the replacement of the implant in a period of five to seven years, which is why the patient needs to undergo a new operation.

Unlike implant placement through complex surgery, Synchron technology suggests minimally invasive method – by introducing a microstent (electroconductive frame) into a blood vessel (into the jugular vein). After that, the stent is delivered to the motor cortex, where it captures the neuroimpulses of the brain and transmits them in the form of commands to a computer. Since clinical trials only started last year, no serious side effects are known yet. Among the potential side effects, researchers mention standard options for stenting – stent rejection, impaired blood flow in the vessel, damage to the vessel walls, etc. Thus, this technique may be more gentle on the patient compared to the traditional method of surgical implantation directly into brain.

Head against a brick

Remarkable advances have recently been noted not only in the method of introducing the BCI system, but also in the processing of neuroimpulses. In January, scientists from Stanford University announced about a discovery that can significantly increase the efficiency of the practical application of the brain-computer interface. Researchers have developed a new system for processing neuroimpulses (neuroprosthesis), which is capable of recognizing speech several times faster than existing systems, decoding it through brain impulses.

The development of Stanford scientists decodes 62 words per minute, which is 3.4 times faster than current systems, and brings this figure closer to the speed of normal speech – 160 words per minute.

These results were obtained by researchers from Stanford when processing neurosignals from the brain of a patient who lost her speech due to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, which affects motor neurons. Scientists believe the new technology could help many people who have suffered from a range of injuries and ailments, from stroke to Parkinson’s disease. New system research passed for four months: the patient was asked to transmit information about individual phonemes, words and sentences, which were then broadcast on a computer screen. After that, a predictive word recognition system was created, which made it possible to achieve such a high decoding speed of neuroimpulses.

With a vocabulary of 50 words, the new system managed to achieve a recognition accuracy of 91%.

Previous BCI systems using a similar vocabulary and decoding technique gave only 75% accuracy at a recognition rate of 18 words per minute.

Successes in the development of the neurocomputer interface and the rapid development of this industry are forcing the authorities of some countries to think about regulating this area. The British Royal Society (the UK’s leading scientific academic society) is already holding consultations with experts and the country’s parliament on the development of regulatory norms in the field of BCI. The OECD Ad Hoc Working Group also presented document, in which she outlined the need to “develop tools” for the rules governing the activities of companies and research organizations in the field of the brain-computer interface. The OECD emphasizes that regulation of this industry should not only address the legal, commercial and ethical application of BCI, but also stimulate innovation in this area.

In mid-February, the United States conferenceorganized by the Department of Commerce and attended by companies working with BCI. During the conference, industry representatives urged regulators to provide incentives rather than deterrents. “The Department of Commerce is well positioned to play a constructive role in getting our industry a little more carrot and a little less stick from regulators,” said Matt Angle, CEO of Paradromics Inc.

At the same time, representatives of some companies expressed anxiety attempts of excessive influence of the authorities on the work of the industry. The situation with BCI regulation is complicated by the fact that such technologies are potentially dual-use technologies and may be of interest to the military.

US authorities fearthat American scientific developments may end up with the Chinese military, therefore they limited the cooperation of American companies with Chinese developers and semiconductor manufacturers

However, according to the head of Blackrock Neurotech, Markus Gerhardt, such restrictions could hinder new developments. “This will slow down the development of the entire industry,” the top manager believes. “If we don’t have access to the necessary production sites, it can just break our neck, frankly.”

Evgeniy Khvostik