Versatile chip also
offers multiple applications in various electronic devices
(February 11, 2016) Scientists
at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore) have developed a
small smart chip that can be paired with neural implants for efficient wireless
transmission of brain signals.
Neural implants when embedded in the brain can alleviate the
debilitating symptoms of Parkinson’s disease or give paraplegic people the
ability to move their prosthetic limbs.
However, they need to be connected by wires to an external
device outside the body. For a prosthetic patient, the neural implant is
connected to a computer that decodes the brain signals so the artificial limb
can move.
These external wires are not only cumbersome but the
permanent openings which allow the wires into the brain increases the risk of
infections.
The new chip by NTU scientists can allow the transmission of
brain data wirelessly and with high accuracy.
Assistant Professor Arindam Basu from NTU’s School of
Electrical and Electronic Engineering said the research team have tested the
chip on data recorded from animal models, which showed that it could decode the
brain’s signal to the hand and fingers with 95 per cent accuracy.
“What we have developed is a very versatile smart chip that
can process data, analyse patterns and spot the difference,” explained Prof
Basu.
“It is about a hundred times more efficient than current
processing chips on the market. It will lead to more compact medical wearable
devices, such as portable ECG monitoring devices and neural implants, since we
no longer need large batteries to power them.”