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cover of episode Chip in the Brain? How Brain-Computer Interfaces Could Change Medicine

Chip in the Brain? How Brain-Computer Interfaces Could Change Medicine

2024/5/3
logo of podcast WSJ’s The Future of Everything

WSJ’s The Future of Everything

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Benjamin Rapoport: 我致力于将神经接口技术从科学领域转化为医学应用。为了确保医疗设备安全,微创性至关重要。早期脑机接口技术需要穿透大脑植入电极,存在损伤大脑的风险。而我们公司Precision Neuroscience的脑机接口技术采用表面微电极,最大限度地减少了对大脑的损伤。 我们的设备通过检测大脑表面的电信号来实现与数字世界的交互,这就好比在一个嘈杂的体育场或鸡尾酒会上,你需要从众多声音中识别出特定的人说话。因此,我们的电子设备需要处理大量数据,并将其转化为可理解的信息。这需要一个校准过程,让机器学习软件学习每个用户的脑电信号模式。 目前,我们主要关注脑机接口在医疗领域的应用,特别是帮助行动不便或言语障碍的患者。脑机接口可以作为一种数字旁路,帮助患者将思想转化为行动,这就像为大脑提供了一种神经假体。 脑机接口技术是一种平台技术,未来可能会有许多基于它的应用。它就像键盘和鼠标一样,是一种交互工具,未来可能会有更多意想不到的应用。 将实验室技术转化为可靠的医疗设备需要大量时间和努力。未来几年,会有多种脑机接口技术进入临床试验阶段。我们希望在未来五年内,脑机接口技术能够成为临床标准护理的一部分。 脑机接口可以被看作一种通信技术,其带宽的提升会带来更多应用,这类似于通信技术从拨号上网到高速网络的进步。脑机接口技术有潜力极大地提高沟通效率,甚至可以实现更直观的思想交流。 我们设计的脑机接口植入手术是一种微创手术,通过一个小切口将薄膜电极放置在大脑表面。电极数量与带宽成正比,增加电极数量可以提高带宽,但不会增加手术风险。 脑机接口技术将改变医学、神经科学以及我们对残疾的认知。它可以帮助残疾人重返工作岗位,并获得独立和尊严。先进的脑机接口比目前的医疗植入物更贵,但其价格不应该成为使用障碍。患者使用脑机接口的过程是一个学习和适应的过程,他们需要学习如何控制设备。

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This episode explores the potential of brain-computer interfaces to revolutionize medicine and how we interact with computers.
  • Researchers are developing brain-computer interfaces to help people with disabilities like paralysis or speech impairment.
  • These devices decode brain signals and translate them into digital commands, enabling users to control computers with their thoughts.

Shownotes Transcript

A day when people can interact directly with computers using their thoughts could be on the horizon. Several companies, including Elon Musk’s Neuralink, have begun preliminary human trials of brain-computer interfaces - devices that decode the electrical signals in their brain and translate them into digital bits. Neurosurgeon Benjamin Rapoport is a co-founder and chief science officer of Precision Neuroscience, a company working on brain-computer interfaces. He spoke with WSJ’s Danny Lewis about how the technology works and how these implants could improve the lives of hundreds of thousands of people who could gain the ability to independently engage with the digital world.

Correction: Dr. Benjamin Rapoport is the co-founder of Precision Neuroscience. An earlier version misspelled his name Rapaport. (Corrected on May 3)

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**Further reading: **

Inside the Operating Room: Doctors Test a Revolutionary Brain-Computer Implant

Elon Musk’s Neuralink Wants to Make ‘The Matrix’ a Reality. It Has a Lot to Prove First.

She Didn’t Speak for 18 Years. A Computer Helped Find Her Voice.

The Devices That Will Read Your Brain—and Enhance It

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