Robotic Brain Implant

Researchers at Caltech have created a robotic device that can create an interface between the brain and a computer. The device can precisely position electrodes into neural tissue. This may be the first step towards the creation of cyborgs. The picture above shows the device. It seems like a rather large device, and I'm not sure how easy it would be to implant it into brain tissue. Apparently it works by precisely driving electrodes into the brain. The software of this robotic device can then detect neuronal spike activity. It uses an algorithm to incrementally move itself into the correct position to obtain the best brain-computer interface possible. So it is basically a self positioning neural device. This has many potential applications for brain diseases in the future where a more precise placement of electrodes in the brain is needed.

You can read more about this new device in this scientific paper (pdf file).

"This paper presents a miniature robot device and control algorithm that can autonomously position electrodes in cortical tissue for isolation and tracking of extracellular signals of individual neurons. Autonomous electrode positioning can significantly enhance the efficiency and quality of acute electrophysiolgical experiments aimed at basic understanding of the nervous system. Future miniaturized systems of this sort could also overcome some of the inherent difficulties in estabilishing long-lasting neural interfaces that are needed for practical realization of neural prostheses."