This brain-computer interface helps paralyzed individuals type using only their minds
Imagine a world where our brains can dictate action without using our limbs. Contemplating this reality is mind-boggling, considering the technology that would be required to translate neurological signals into movement. It seems too good to be true in our lifetime, but Salt Lake City-based Blackrock Neurotech begs to disagree.
Lauded as the “world’s most advanced brain-computer interface company,” Blackrock Neurotech is the first to provide tetraplegic patients the ability to control robotic limbs directly from and with the brain—and the first to enable patients who have amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) to communicate again via an auditory speller directly controlled by their mind.
What a Feeling: A Look Back at a High-Tech Presidential Handshake
While a presidential meetup is a once-in-a-lifetime moment for many, a handshake in 2016 between 30-year-old Nathan Copeland and President Barack Obama felt extra special.
For starters, Copeland, paralyzed from the chest down after a car accident, was using a robotic hand – one controlled by two brain implants in his motor cortex.
With the on-brain nanoelectrodes, Copeland could restore the connection between brain and body. His thoughts moved the arm so that he could, quite literally, reach out to the President, to shake his hand.
Here’s an Idea: How a Brain-Computer Interface Works
For some people, a critical link – the one sending signals from brain to body, the one connecting thought to action – does not work properly, or in some cases, has been severed entirely.
Marcus Gerhardt, CEO and co-founder of the Salt Lake City, UT-based company Blackrock Neurotech, is creating a technology called a brain-computer interface. The tiny implant aims at restoring the connection between mind and motion.
Encephalon – Neuroscience Thinking Forward
We have invited speakers for three panels to begin the discussions that will be at the forefront of neuroscience in our generation. The subsections are Computation in the Brain & Neurophilosophy, Clinical Psychiatry & Epigenetics, and finally Drugs, Behavior, and the Future of Medicine. This will include talks evaluating the computational properties of the brain, exploring advances towards evidence-based, person-centric psychiatry, and ending on reconfiguring perceptions and preconceptions of illicit drugs.
The Fifth Annual Bioelectronic Medicine Summit
Bioelectronic medicine is an emerging field at the convergence of molecular medicine, neuroscience and technology with the aim of developing novel diagnostic and therapeutic approaches.
This meeting will call international attention to bioelectronic medicine as the platform for new developments in healthcare, technology, and science. Leaders in bioelectronic medicine will discuss current progress, challenges, and future developments.
2022 Neuroergonomics Conference & NYC Neuromodulation Conference
Neurotechnology represented at the conference spans extremes. From critical care, to well-being, to the brain in every-day life. From revolutionary invasive devices, to targeted non-invasive approaches, to wearables. From boosting the performance of athlete, surgeons, artists, first responders, to service members. From brain-to-brain interfaces, to mixed/virtual reality, to social media. The 2022 Neuroergonomics and NYC Neuromodulation Conference program fuses speakers and topics to create a meeting culture that cultivates new ideas and connections.
