It sounds like the stuff of science fiction — but a company in Utah has already implanted brain chips in dozens of patients.
Blackrock Neurotech, headquartered in Salt Lake City, has great ambitions to treat physical paralysis, blindness, deafness and depression.
The chip – called the NeuroPort Array – allows people to control robotic arms and wheelchairs, play video games and even feel sensations.
It works by using approximately 100 microscopic needles that attach to the brain and read the electrical signals produced by a person’s thoughts. More than thirty people have received it so far.
The device was first implanted in a person in 2004. Company leaders hope to bring it to market soon, and they announce in 2021 that they are targeting next year.
Nathan Copeland (left) has had a BCI for eight years, using his device to create art and play video games. James Johnson (right) has been able to return to his career as a digital graphic designer after paralysis cut it short
The NeuroPort suite (pictured) was developed by Blackrok Neurotech in Salt Lake City. The device can read a person’s brain signals and use them to control a robotic arm, type, or perform other functions. Some hope that the emergence of these devices will be a breakthrough in the treatment of paralysis and other conditions
Tech mogul Elon Musk has also launched similar plans with Neurolink, an implantable device he hopes will help similar groups.
Musk’s initial plans earlier this year were thwarted by regulators, who rejected a proposal to try his transplant in humans.
“We are the only company to have BCI implants directly into the brain in humans,” BlackRock co-founder Marcus Gerhardt told DailyMail.com.
“Our implantable arrays have allowed people to connect directly to computers, control robotic arms and wheelchairs, play video games, and even restore sensation — just with their brain signals.
BlackRock’s technology uses a chip implanted with 96 arrays – tiny, needle-shaped brain chips that can read and play electrical signals.
It can be located anywhere on the surface of the brain. Multiple devices can be placed on that person’s brain.
Once implanted, the chip detects electrical signals generated by the wearer’s thoughts.
Machine learning software decodes these signals into digital commands such as cursor movements, which can be used to control prosthetics and computers.
It can help a person draw with a robotic arm, use computer software, or control a wheelchair or prosthesis.
But the company is now seeking FDA approval for devices designed for use outside the laboratory, for use at home by paralyzed people.
Gerhard said: “We are seeking regulatory approval for the world’s first BCI designed specifically for use in the home: MoveAgain.
“This medical device is designed to increase independence and mobility, and thus improve the quality of life for people with paralysis.”
He hopes BCIs will become as ubiquitous for paralyzed patients as pacemakers for people with heart problems.
He continued: “Once BCIs are available for home use, they will help people build a new life that may have seemed impossible because of their disability; We believe we will see people return to work, establish greater independence, and interact with the world in a new way. And strong ways.”
“Our long-term vision is that our implants will become as available to people with paralysis as pacemakers to people with heart problems.”
The company is already developing brain-computer interfaces for hearing and vision rehabilitation.
“As technology continues to advance, we will see BCIs along with indicators of memory and mental states such as anxiety and depression,” Gerhardt said.
It’s been used on more than thirty people Blackrock, who has nothing to do with the asset management company, calls BCI Pioneers.
The device has been implanted in patients for 80 years with no reports of serious side effects.
However, the device has some pitfalls. The arrays on the implant slowly degrade over time, causing signal quality to deteriorate after about two years.
The device usually needs to be removed after about five years, requiring another surgery to remove it and then replace it.
Nathan Copeland has had a BCI for eight years and uses the BCI to create art with a robotic arm as well as play video games.
He is even able to feed himself, and has recently been shown to be able to eat Taco Bell’s Cheesy Gordito Crunch using a robotic arm controlled by his mind.
Mr. Copeland’s art is currently on display at BCI Gallery at AAAS in Washington, DC.
Mr Gerhardt said: “When it comes to art, Nathan’s medium of choice is MS Paint or GIMP, but James Johnson is the most proficient Photoshop BCI user we’ve seen.
Marcus Gerhardt (pictured), CEO and co-founder of Blackrock Neurotech, told DailyMail.com that he hopes his company’s devices can help treat mental health ailments and help revive people’s memories.
“Before James became paralyzed, he had a small business doing photo manipulations for clients.
“Through BCI, he was able to get back to using Photoshop, and some of his artwork is also on display at the BCI Gallery.”
Blackrock first implanted the BCI device in 2004, Gerhard says, but has often shied away from publicity due to concerns about public perception of the devices.
“As a company, we’ve taken a more active role in going behind the scenes and helping passionate patients tell their story,” he said.
“Once patients have access to these devices outside of the laboratory, I think we will really see an increase in public interest.
“The sky’s the limit on what BCIs can do in the future.”
Gerhardt believes the technology could be used in the near future to treat everything from recovering lost memories to post-traumatic stress disorder to depression.
“For example, in depression, BCI could show promise in modulating neural activity in brain regions associated with mood regulation,” he said.
“When it comes to disorders such as depression or PTSD, spatially and temporally targeted electrical or magnetic stimulation of nerve tissue can help disrupt or reprogram the firing patterns that lead to the disorder.”
The data could also lead to new understanding of conditions such as depression – and how they are diagnosed and treated.
In the long term, BCI technology can be used to recover lost memories.
“Memory is a complex phenomenon,” says Gerhard, “but advanced implantable BCI technologies can use the potential of targeted electrical recording and stimulation of individual neurons and circuits to help restore some of the functions associated with memory formation and retrieval.
“BCI technology may also be able to record patterns associated with specific memories and recreate them as needed.”
