Implantable Brain “Stentrode” for Controlling Prosthetics
Most developments in building brain-machine interfaces involve implantation on the brain surface itself. Australian researchers however have designed a prototype device for controlling nerve transmission though a stent-elecectrode device (“stentrode”) they implanted in the neck vein of sheep. As they describe it in their Nature Biotechnology piece: “we demonstrate the feasibility of chronically recording brain activity from within a vein using a passive stent-electrode recording array (stentrode). We achieved implantation into a superficial cortical vein overlying the motor cortex via catheter angiography and demonstrate neural recordings in freely moving sheep for up to 190 d. Spectral content and bandwidth of vascular electrocorticography were comparable to those of recordings from epidural surface arrays. Venous internal lumen patency was maintained for the duration of implantation. Stentrodes may have wide ranging applications as a neural interface for treatment of a range of neurological conditions. MORE
Image Credit: DARPA and University of Melbourne