Category: technology

Treating Neurodegenerative Diseases with BCI

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If you’d asked me a short few weeks ago whether I thought neurogenesis in humans continued throughout their lifetime (as so often the topic comes up in the most casual of conversations), I’d have, with 100 percent confidence, said “yes.”

That’s right friends, strangers, guy in that chair over there… Today, we’re talking about one of my favorite subjects! Brains.

Recently, I found out that adult hippocampal neurogenesis (AHN) in humans might not, in fact, be a real thing.1 This is shocking! So then I wondered: Could we potentially use brain computer interface (BCI) as an artificial neurogenesis therapy for individuals suffering the effects of neurodegenerative diseases—such as Alzheimer’s—psychiatric disorders, and age-related cognitive dysfunctions?

But what is AHN, why is it important, and how does BCI fit in?

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The Importance of Adult Hippocampal Neurogenesis in Humans

Neurogenesis is basically what it sounds like—the birth of new neurons. It starts in the womb and may continue until about 13 years of age2 or until death. Adult neurogenesis (what we’re focused on) has been corroborated in mice, songbirds, and non-human primates. While there is considerable evidence of adult neurogenesis in humans, this is where things get dicey. The methodology currently used isn’t ideal. For example:

  • Carbon dating cells can be mislabel wherein dying cells are labeled as dividing cells, giving a false positive for neurogenesis, and protein markers can mislabel cell types (glia for neuron)1
  • Studies don’t particularly account for cellular degradation in post-mortem samples, nor for cognitive health of the doner before death, which can lead to erroneous findings1

The extreme variation in findings in similar methodologies used is another head scratcher. This is why proving AHN in humans is so difficult. Finding a reliable way to measure potential AHN in real-time in living subjects via imaging seems to be the way to go but has thus far not been available.

Anyway, based on both animal and (contentious) human studies, adult neurogenesis is thought to take place in two areas of the brain: the subventricular zone, and the dentate gyrus of the hippocampus. AHN is thought to be responsible for things like learning, memory retention, and spatial memory (which is the ability to navigate your environment and remember how to get to the grocery store).

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  • Happy little neurons firing when you turn left into the… no left. LEFT!

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Now… neurodegenerative diseases, psychiatric disorders, and age-related cognitive dysfunctions all have something in common: in both human studies, and in studies1 using animal models in which it’s been shown AHN is present, those with the abovementioned ailments all showed decreased neurogenesis. Based on this, we could hypothesize that human AHN therapies could provide symptom alleviation (or potential condition improvement) in such conditions as depression, Alzheimer’s, and age-related memory loss. According to ADULT NEUROGENESIS IN HUMANS: A Review of Basic Concepts, History, Current Research, and Clinical Implications:

  • “Consecutive animal model studies have indicated the potential of neurogenesis-based targets in drug development for depression due to the implied role that neurogenesis plays in the mechanisms of actions of many antidepressant drugs.
  • “A neurogenic drug […] was found to reduce severity of the symptoms in patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) compared to placebo, but the robustness of the results was limited by small sample size and skewed test-control distribution of the study…
  • “Metformin—[an FDA-approved] drug for the treatment of Type 2 diabetes—was reported to induce neurogenesis in a rat model and in human neuronal cell cultures, but no clinical trials have been conducted to support these results. Prolonged treatment with this drug in humans with diabetes, however, was found to have an antidepressant effect and appeared to protect patients from cognitive decline.”1

If AHN in humans eventually is proven, endogenous cell replacement or neuronal progenitor/stem cell transplant therapies could be a viable source of treatment.6 However, regardless of the existence of AHN in humans, prevention of cognitive decline is a noteworthy effort. But what about alternate treatment solutions in the absence of AHN in humans?

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  • Oh. Uh, no, Dave. Electrolytes is not the answer.

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BCI as a Treatment for Cognitive Disorders

BCI has been growing in popularity for some time and has been applied to both clinical and practical use for decades: cochlear implants, the Utah array, deep brain stimulation. But it seems that a lot of BCI solutions, and even studies, tend toward mobility vs cognition. For instance, BCI studies in stroke patients primarily focus on mobile rehabilitation; however, one study3 found a link between motor, cognitive, and emotion functions that revealed promising evidence of the benefits of BCI in treating post-stroke cognitive impairments (PSCI). I want to point something important out here: BCI mobility rehabilitation has yielded very good results for patients; however, patients with a certain percent of PSCI can’t participate in this type of rehabilitation. Your brain must be able to send, receive, and decode signals for BCI to work, which is why cognitive rehabilitation is so important.

Part of what led to studying BCI in PSCI is that since the “effects of BCI-based neurofeedback training have been seen to improve certain cognitive functions in neurodevelopmental and neurodegenerative conditions such as [ADHD] and mild cognitive impairment (MCI) in elderly subjects, respectively, it is therefore also likely to generalise to other dysfunctions, including PSCI.” While more research is needed in this area, the foundation has undeniably been set. BCI could potentially act as a treatment in cognitive and some psychological disorders.

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A Look at Current BCI Projects

There are multiple companies in the BCI industry, though most seem focused on entertainment and mobility. For example, NextMind’s Dev Kit is a very cool product available for consumer purchase that allows individuals to interact with the digital world in a hands-free manner. I recommend watching the launch talk—very cool. While the Dev Kit is geared mostly toward entertainment—video games, interacting with the TV, and such—being able to move and communicate through digital space offers a lot of benefits for mobility- and speech-impaired individuals.

Kernel’s Flux, however, is a different beast. According to their website, “Kernel Flux is a turnkey magnetoencephalography (MEG) platform based on optically-pumped magnetometers (OPMs), which provides real-time access to the intricate brain activity underlying functions such as arousal, emotion, attention, memory, and learning.” It’s a tool that’s been used in studies to help determine areas of the brain affected by such conditions as Parkinson’s4 and mild MCI5 related to dementia of Alzheimer’s type (DAT). The conclusion of the latter study found that “MEG functional connectivity may be an ideal candidate biomarker for early, presymptomatic detection of the neuropathology of DAT, and for identifying MCI-patients at high risk of having DAT.”

If Kernel is providing the means of early detection in neurodegenerative diseases and conditions linked with cognitive decline, is it possible that same tool can be used to detect AHN in humans? And more importantly, if AHN isn’t really real, who is going to step up to the plate with BCI focused on the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases? Elon Musk? Heh. Wait…

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  • Surprise!

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Could Neuralink Produce a Synthetic Neurogenesis Therapy?

Neuralinkan elon musk company is working on cutting edge BCI technology. They’ve created an implant that uses tiny threads inserted into the brain to receive neuronal signals. The implant amplifies the signals, then converts them to digital code which is sent via Bluetooth to a mobile app. The threads can also send signals to stimulate neurons and identify some neurons by shape.

While Neuralink’s initial goal is to facilitate digital communication and interaction in paralysis patients, they’re ultimately hoping for potential restoration of motor function in said patients, treatment of cognitive and psychological disorders, restoration of vision, and more. I highly recommend watching the launch of N1 for a look at the science and engineering behind all of it, and I recommend watching the progress update to get a look at the Link and its specs. It. Is. Very cool. But what does it have to do with neurogenesis?

Well, “Progressive degeneration of specific neuronal types and deterioration of local neuronal circuitry are the hallmarks of degenerative neurological diseases, such as [Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, Huntington’s, and ALS].”6 Identification of these specific neuronal types is key in any neurogenesis therapy (kinda like gene therapy!), whether transplanting genetically engineered cells into target regions of the brain or using software programed to mimic specific neuronal signals in place of lost or damaged neurons.

Because Neuralink’s device can send, decode, and receive signals and identify neurons, and because we know specific neurons related to specific neurodegenerative diseases (i.e. Huntington’s degrades striatal medium spiny and cortical neurons), I opine that, yes, Neuralink’s device could definitely act as a synthetic type of neurogenesis therapy. There’s obviously an extreme amount of data that would have to be collected though, given that two of the same type of neuron in a person’s brain giving the same directive (or “action potential”) can do so in two different ways, and this varies from person to person. Neuralink’s data processing ability is pretty remarkable and quite robust, and since it’s already individually tuned (so to speak), it’s essentially made to be a target therapy.

Furthermore, with the ability to process so much data simultaneously, the Link could additionally help identify neurons or neural circuitry affected by neurological disorders or damage to provide effective treatment therapy. It could also help with schizophrenia, wherein erroneous information processing due to abnormal dendritic branching and synaptic connections could be corrected or overwritten.1

There’s an exceptional amount of potential with this device and, while it might sound like science fiction, it seems more to me like it’ll be reality within the next 10-20 years given where technology is at now and the rate of progress.

Whew! It took a long time, but we got there. Now, enjoy a Macaque playing Pong with his brain.

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Video (and MindPong) courtesy of Neuralink

Sources

1 ADULT NEUROGENESIS IN HUMANS: A Review of Basic Concepts, History, Current Research, and Clinical Implications

2 The controversy of adult hippocampal neurogenesis in humans: suggesting a resolution and way forward

3 BCI for stroke rehabilitation: motor and beyond

4 Hypersynchrony despite pathologically reduced beta oscillations in patients with Parkinson’s disease: a pharmaco-magnetoencephalography study

5 A multicenter study of the early detection of synaptic dysfunction in Mild Cognitive Impairment using Magnetoencephalography-derived functional connectivity

6 Neurogenesis as a potential therapeutic strategy for neurodegenerative diseases

Autonomous Vehicles: Convenience or All-time Thief of Fun?

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Autonomous vehicles (AVs) are in the news a lot lately. From Tesla’s Autopilot to Uber’s driverless cars, we’re really starting to see an upswing in the credibility of this tech. I can see how this technology would greatly benefit the trucking industry—if not necessarily truckers. And, I can definitely get behind Uber’s use of the tech, as well. My only (and horrible) Uber ride in Birmingham convinced me never to use Uber in Birmingham again. Plus, some Uber drivers like to talk and I’m just not into that level of human interaction sometimes. If I wanted that in my life, I’d take more trips to the hair salon. So, from a business/commercial standpoint—aside from a decrease in jobs—AVs are a pretty smart investment.

In the consumer market, however, will AVs be beneficial? Probably. Will they be wanted? Hard maybe. Will they be needed? I imagine sometime in the future, the answer to that will be yes.

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Benefits of Autonomous Consumer Vehicles

It seems likely that AVs will provide pretty significant benefits for consumers. No human error means—on paper, at least—fewer accidents. And, with all the incredible road rage stories in the news lately (my cure for road rage is Tenacious D and The Lonely Island, personally) taking humans out of the driver’s seat may reduce violence. Of course, increased fuel economy and reduced emissions through more consistent driving (or presumable the AV being and electric vehicle (EV)) make AVs friendly to both wallet and earth.

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  • ritier-1083931_640
    That’s why you don’t cut off a cosplayer in traffic, Dave!

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You should realize by now that I always look for the health benefits in tech and, likewise, I see a big one in AVs: stress reduction. AVs—once perfected—have the ability to reduce the stresses that come with driving. The aforementioned road rage, for instance. Commuters will no longer have to worry about navigating traffic. Even better, they won’t have to worry about navigating areas they don’t know well. We know from numerous studies that stress is a factor in weight gain, depression, anxiety, poor sleep, high blood pressure, and other negative health issues.

AVs will also give you back your commute time. Instead of spending your commute driving, you can safely handle those emergency work situations, get in last minute studying for a final exam or, hell, even meditate if you want. Feeling less pressed for time is another stress alleviator.

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One of the Biggest Concerns

For some people, driving isn’t stressful. In fact, it’s fun and freeing. It’s a hobby done in spare time to help relax during beautiful summer days. For some people, AVs are the enemy. This article in The Guardian points out that new automobile tech often rouses unhappiness—the airbag, anti-lock brakes, power steering, automatic transmissions, etc.—with the main complaint being that all the fun of driving will be taken away. Sometimes, that’s true. Driving a manual is much more fun and rewarding than driving an automatic. Driving an automatic, however, is much more practical.

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  • auto-2179220_640
    There’s really no point in buying it if you’re not going to drive it.

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We’re a long way from AVs taking over, but it seems inevitable that AVs will dominate sometime down the road. We’re in the introduction and perfecting time of the tech right now. After that, it’ll be consumer’s choice. Eventually, it’ll become a government mandated thing. I think that’s the big fear. AVs are very cool, very impressive, but like anything else, it’s only cool because it’s offered. It’s cool because we can choose to partake in this tech, or we can choose to drive ourselves. Once that choice is taken away, AVs become much less impressive. Of course, by the time citizens are forced to give up the skill that is driving, driving lovers will probably be long dead.

Happy Friday!

Your Perfectly Personalized Avatar

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Hello there! I’ve been meaning to bring you some fun new something or other, but my time and attention have been elsewhere. Also, I couldn’t really decide what I wanted to bring to your attention. Then, I came across Body Labs. According to its website, the Manhattan-based company was founded in 2013 with the goal of digitizing and organizing “data and information related to human body shape, pose, and motion.” The company’s mission is to “transform the human body into a digital platform upon and around which goods and services can be designed, produced, bought, and sold.”

Body Labs has gotten quite a bit of press in recent years, the most abundant of which falls into specific categories, such as…

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Commercial Applications

Body Labs is hitting the right commercial buttons using all the right trending tech. Take online clothing purchases, for instance. Unless you’re pretty intimate with the brand, ordering clothes online is a gamble. It’s hard to find the right size when you can’t try something on. It’s also hard to know if it’ll look as good on you as it does on the person modeling it. According to Judy Frankel, “Of the $1.2 trillion in worldwide footwear and apparel sales, $62.4 billion were returned for improper fit in 2015.”

But, the avatars made by Body Labs could potentially cut that number way down. Creating an avatar takes your height, weight, and detailed measurements into account utilizing a full-body profile, frontal, and backside images. Just using the images gets the avatar pretty damn close to right, but if the measurements are off a bit, you can easily go in and tweak them.

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  • 3D
    Although … She’s a bit more toned.

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While that’s all well and good—and it really is—even better is the future potential of this tech in this same consumerism capacity. Think about going into a clothing store and using these avatars (with a store-linked system) to eliminate the necessity of trying anything on. Bliss. Or, going a step further, using these avatars to get bespoke clothing, made in-store, just for you via 3D printer. Double bliss. Manufacturing something like clothing would be more economical this way as well, seeing as there wouldn’t be a surplus of unsold merchandise or unused materials.

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Medical Applications

Most of the current press on Body Labs in the “medical” section pertains to body weight. Specifically, creating a better way to consider an individual’s health spectrum than using BMI numbers. While BMI takes weight and height into account, the measurement doesn’t consider musculature, body structure, or where excess fat is located. That means healthy, fit individuals (like pro athletes) can slip into the obese category of BMI. Not taking into consideration the location of excess fat—around the thighs and upper arms versus around the torso—means that a healthy, average size person can fall into the same category as an individual with increased heart health risks. Body Labs’ body modeling can help individualize the body mass spectrum, taking you out of the wrong category and more precisely determining health risks.

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    Pictured: Two very not-obese obese men.

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Body Labs’ body modeling is also good for helping to properly fit a prosthetic for an individual. In his article, “The Future of 3D-printed Prosthetics,” Jonathan Schwartz discusses how some companies are making the manufacture and availability of personalized prosthetics easier and cheaper. I can definitely see 3D-printed prosthetics as the way of the future. And, with Body Labs’ body modeling, this process can boast a natural fitting prosthetic.

There’s also the chance that body modeling could help in recovery. Think about this scenario: You have an avatar with full movement tracking. It’s all the rage, so of course you do. It’s the new Instatwitterbook—VR style! One day, you have a car accident after which your mobility is limited. Let’s say your back was hurt. A new, full movement body model is made of you after the accident and is played beside the pre-accident model. The pre-accident model is now the standard—it’s the level of mobility to which you want to get back. So, over the course of physical therapy, new body models are made to compare progress. That’s cool, but how does it help? By comparing progressing body models to the standard, you can better target exact problems areas to make recovery faster, more effective, and longer lasting.

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Don’t be afraid of the future

Body modeling is good for applications outside of the fashion and niche medical industries as well. Body modeling can improve the immersive experience of VR. But that’s not all! The ability to predict movements without using body markers opens up the door for expansive VR game play. Want to play D&D at the park without having to build your own costume so people won’t stare or try to beat you up, not that that’s happened to me or anyone I know, shut up don’t ask questions!

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  • augmented-reality-1853592_1280
    Here’s to future VR being safer than this seems!

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Sorry, got a bit sidetracked. The point is, this type of tech has the potential to improve commercial markets, niche medical industries, and—and—entertainment!

Home Healthcare Just got a Little More Exciting

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Look at us! All together again, chatting about things and stuff. Well, one-way chatting. Which is actually less chatting than—What? Oh, ok. Dave says I’m rambling.

Today, we’re going to talk about Star Trek—sort of. We’re going to talk about a piece of tech on Star Trek called the Tricorder.

You do remember the Tricorder, right?

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  • tricoder-bones
    “Am I hungry? I mean, I could probably go for a burger.” “Doc?” “Oh, sorry. It’s cancer.”

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The Contest

If you don’t know, Star Trek was created in the 1960s by a fella named Gene Roddenberry. According to his son, Rod (actual name Eugene), Gene was highly influenced by “the next big thing” in science to develop the tech for the show. Rod explained that his father would reach out to the scientific community, find out what the newest thing was, and ask, “What’s next?” It’s likely for this reason that many of the show’s gadgets are believable and, now, are replicable. You know, like the Tricorder, by way of the Qualcomm Tricorder XPRIZE competition.

The competition was comprised of teams from all over the world, including finalists Basil Leaf Technologies (US), Dynamical Biomarkers Group (Taiwan), Cloud DX (Canada), Aezon (US), Danvantri (India), DMI (US), and Intelesens Responsive Healthcare (UK). The competition officially launched in 2012. The teams were tasked with creating something consumers could use at home to accurately monitor health:

The devices are expected to accurately diagnose 13 health conditions (12 diseases and the absence of conditions)—10 required core conditions and a choice of three elective conditions—in addition to capturing five real-time health vital signs, independent of a health care worker or facility, and in a way that provides a compelling consumer experience.

  • Required Core Health Conditions (10): Anemia, Atrial Fibrillation (AFib), Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), Diabetes, Leukocytosis, Pneumonia, Otitis Media, Sleep Apnea, Urinary Tract Infection, Absence of condition 
  • Elective Health Conditions (Choice of 3): Cholesterol Screen, Food-borne Illness, HIV Screen, Hypertension, Hypothyroidism/Hyperthyroidism, Melanoma, Mononucleosis, Pertussis (Whooping Cough), Shingles, Strep Throat 
  • Required Health Vital Signs (5): Blood Pressure, Heart Rate, Oxygen Saturation, Respiratory Rate, Temperature

The Tricorder had no strict aesthetic parameters, but could not be over five lbs. Hand-held and all that. Earlier this year, the winners were awarded. Final Frontier Medical Devices—the Basil Leaf Technologies team—took home first prize, with Dynamical Biomarkers Group coming in second. And, while the competition is over, the work doesn’t stop there.

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    I’m not sure what’s happening here, but I don’t think I can condone it.

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Tricorder: Coming to a Store Near You

Qualcomm Foundation, which sponsored the competition, developed a post-prize fund in order to continue product development, consumer testing, industry adoption, retail commercialization, and more. According to XPRIZE, “Along with several strategic partners including the Roddenberry Foundation, XPRIZE and the Qualcomm Foundation will implement a series of initiatives to assist and support the teams in the further realization of their innovations.”

The initiative to bring the Tricorder to life—and to your fingertips—stems from the need to improve personal health in the US. The Tricorder will be able to help monitor existing/recurring health problems, as well as diagnose new illnesses. While the scope of diagnosis might seem relatively small, what the Tricorder—is scans the right word? ‘Cause I’m going to use it—scans for are the more prolific ailments in the US today. That means saving money on co-pays. It means saving money on extensive tests—some of which you don’t need. It means saving yourself the misery and frustration of going to the doctor in the first place.

Sponsors continuing support of the Tricorder are looking to educate citizens on the future of mobile health in the consumer industry. They are working on business plans for commercialization. They’re even working toward getting the Tricorder in stores, including Lowes—in the aisle between first-aid kits and soldering tools. In the years to come, and with a far less than perfect healthcare system, having the Tricorder commercially available will be a benefit we can’t afford not to have.

Improving Quality of Life

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I’ve previously written a couple of blog posts on tech advancements aimed at aiding movement inhibited individuals. This is another one of those, focused singularly on Brain-Machine Interface (BMI, also called Brain-Computer Interface, BCI), which we’ve touched on before. The reason I’m putting a good deal of focus on these types of topics—aside from the badassness of it—is because of my own physical issues.

You see kiddies, when I was the tender age of 16, I had a horseback riding accident that left me with a rotated hip. That one injury has since plagued me with low-back movement issues that are painful, sometimes debilitating, and decrease quality of life. On top of that, I have pretty bad knee issues—which also stem from the original rotated hip problem. I’ve had three epidurals, two cortisone shots at the knee joint, and so much physical therapy I count it as my second job. The one thing I want to do, physically, compounds all the wounds.

I just want to run. I love to run. I love the way it makes me feel before, during, and after. But, even jogging ¼ mile kills my knees and stresses my back. So, what must it be like for someone who wants to walk, or even just stand? Life is a lot of things, but movement plays such a significant role in life that it’s something we think about lightly. You know, until we can’t do it anymore.

So, while robotics, neuroscience, and advancements in technology are blow-your-mind-like-a-big-league-hotdog awesome, combining the three to improve quality of life for thousands—millions?—of people is blow-your-mind-in-the-archaic-sense-of-the-word awesome. So, without further ado, let’s dig into the real meat of this blog.

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  • horse-2087276_640
    Just look at those cute, evil faces.

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Allowing Locked-In ALS Patients to Communicate

I know what ALS is, but I had never previously heard of the “Locked-In” ALS condition. Thanks to my ignorance, you’ll all get a bit of definition time. You’re welcome. ALS patients suffering from the Locked-In condition are considered to be in the severe stage of ALS, wherein they are conscious and have brain function, but are unable to move. At all.

Science is working toward giving such patients as these a way to communicate again. According to the article Locked-In ALS Patients Answer Yes or No Questions with Wearable fNIRS Device, published earlier this month in Neuroscience News:

Using a wearable system developed by SUNY Downstate Medical Center researcher Dr. Randall Barbour, a team of investigators led by Professor Niels Birbaumer at the Wyss Center for Bio and Neuroengineering in Switzerland and University of Tübingen in Germany were able to measure the brain’s hemodynamic response to a series of ‘yes’ or ‘no’ questions, thus allowing these patients to communicate.

While other tech has been used for this goal—EEG, fMRI, etc.—fNIRS (that’s functional near infrared spectroscopic) imaging has proved to be the breakthrough tech needed. But, what does this mean? Well, this is potentially the first step in bettering quality of life for Locked-In ALS patients. Communication, like movement, is a substantial part of life. It’s why we have language areas in the brain, Dave! But, this isn’t the only advance being made with BMI. Next up…

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  • This is your brain on binary code. Any questions?

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BMI Opens Doors to Paralysis Patients

In Bruce Goldman’s article, Brain-Computer Interface Advance Allows Fast, Accurate Typing by People with Paralysis, published by Stanford Medicine, we get another look into BMI advancement. I fully anticipate all the readers here will visit the original article, which means I’m not listing all the scientists involved. Instead, I’m going to refer to them as “The Team.” You’re welcome. Again.

In this study, The Team worked with three paralysis patients, using an intracordical BMI (or in the case of this study, the term BCI is preferred) to send brain signals to a computer. Goldman explains that:

The investigational system used in the study, an intracortical brain-computer interface called the BrainGate Neural Interface System, represents the newest generation of BCIs […] An intracortical BCI uses a tiny silicon chip, just over one-sixth of an inch square, from which protrude 100 electrodes that penetrate the brain to about the thickness of a quarter and tap into the electrical activity of individual nerve cells in the motor cortex.

These are the nerve cells that send the signals the brain would give off during specific movement tasks (the right hand moving and clicking a computer mouse, for instance). The signals are decoded and converted in real time by a special algorithm, which then allows the patients to control a cursor on the screen in front of them to type out words at a higher speed and accuracy than seen in previous methods. According to Chethan Pandarinath, one of the lead authors of the research report, “We’re achieving communication rates that many people with arm and hand paralysis would find useful. That’s a critical step for making devices that could be suitable for real-world use.”

This is not only exciting, it’s groundbreaking for movement inhibited individuals. Going forward, this tech could help with general household tasks we take for granted—opening doors, changing the thermostat, controlling the TV—and who knows what else?—just by using your mind. This gives movement inhibited individuals access to and a modicum of control over their surroundings. That’s seriously impressive.

Krishna Shenoy, an integral part of The Team—and whose lab pioneered the algorithm for the BMI interface—expects that around five years from now, they may be looking at a “self-calibrating, fully-implanted wireless system [that] can be used without caregiver assistance, has no cosmetic impact, and can be used around the clock.”

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  • monitor-313006_640
    Just think of this computer as Professor X… you know… cause it’s reading your mind!

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Improving on Improvements

Now, we head over to San Diego State University (SDSU) to learn about new electrodes with increased durability that last longer and transmit clearer signals than current electrodes. This news comes to us from the article Big Improvement to Brain-Computer Interface, published by ScienceDaily with source material provided by SDSU. Here’s a rundown of the study:

The Center for Sensorimotor Neural Engineering (CSNE)—a collaboration of San Diego State University with the University of Washington and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology—is working on an implantable brain chip that can record neural electrical signals and transmit them to receivers in the limb, bypassing [spinal cord] damage and restoring movement.

The improvement here is the material out of which the chip is made. Current “state-of-the-art” electrodes are made from thin-film platinum, but researchers with CSNE are utilizing glassy carbon. According to the article, “This material is about 10 times smoother than granular thin-film platinum, meaning it corrodes less easily under electrical stimulation and lasts much longer than platinum or other metal electrodes.” These electrodes are being used both along the surface of and inside the brain for more complete—single neuron and cluster—data.

A doctoral grad student in the lab is even taking things one step further. According to the article:

Mieko Hirabayashi is exploring a slightly different application of this technology. She’s working with rats to find out whether precisely calibrated electrical stimulation can cause new neural growth within the spinal cord. The hope is that this stimulation could encourage new neural cells to grow and replace damaged spinal cord tissue in humans. The new glassy carbon electrodes will allow her to stimulate, read the electrical signals of, and detect the presence of neurotransmitters in the spinal cord better than ever before.

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I used this to represent “single” vs “cluster.” Is it working?

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Every year, new advances in tech are being made. But, seeing tech advancements geared toward improving quality of life for movement inhibited individuals is… well… awesome.

The Skywalker Hand is Coming

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As I was traipsing about the wide and wild world of the interwbs in search of awesome stuff, I stumbled—soberly—across this little nugget. If you don’t feel like going to the original article, then shame on you, but I’ll give you a bit of info on it before we get stared anyway. Take a big breath for this next line, because it’s a doozy. “Proof of Concept of an Online EMG-based Decoding of Hand Postures and Individual Digit Forces for Prosthetic Hand Control,” written by Alicia Gailey and Marco Santello of the School of Biology and Health Systems Engineering, Arizona State University, and Panagiotis Artemiadis of the School for Engineering of Matter, Transport, and Energy, Arizona State University, is part of the closed-loop systems for next-generation neuroprostheses research topic from Frontiers in Neurology, a “Frontiers in” journal series from Frontiers.

I’m almost certain that’s 100-percent accurate, but I’d be more confident if my brain was wired to a calculator. Speaking of Brain-Machine Interfaces (BMIs)…

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Researchers are Looking to Improve Prosthetic Device Functions

For individuals who must utilize a prosthesis—in this case, transradial (below the elbow) or transhumeral (above the elbow)—the technology is only getting better. Overall hand and digit movement has improved greatly from the early days of the mannequin arm prosthesis.

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  • What? She doesn’t need it.

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According to the authors of “Proof of Concept…,” “Options currently available to individuals with upper limb loss range from prosthetic hands that can perform many movements, but require more cognitive effort to control, to simpler terminal devices with limited functional abilities.”

Which means that, even considering the improvements to hand and arm prostheses, there is still room for growth. In an effort to increase the performance of upper limb prosthetic devices, researches are looking to BMIs for answers. But this research may help more than amputees. Utilizing BMIs and neuroprostheses can potentially help individuals suffering from neurological disorders that affect brain-to-body connections resulting in functional impairment and/or paralysis.

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Looking for Advancements

Advancing functionality for hand/arm prostheses can dramatically help the end-user. The human hand is involved in countless tasks each day and, right now, available prostheses just aren’t cutting the mustard.

That’s a horrible expression. Would “up to snuff” be better? No. No, I don’t think there is such a thing as a good situation during which the word “snuff” is used. Anyway, let’s take a look at the challenges that prosthetic hand developers face, as per “Proof of Concept…” authors:

One of the main remaining challenges for prosthetic hand developers is in allowing the user to reliably control many different hand movements without too much cognitive effort. Body-powered systems are reliable, but their harness system can result in fatigue and strain. Furthermore, body-powered prostheses are limited in their functionality. Control systems based on electroencephalographic (EEG) signals can be used to control prosthetic hands for above-elbow amputees and paralyzed individuals. However, the implementation of these systems tends to be challenging because EEG signals are associated with many other behaviors besides hand motion, such as proximal musculature involved in hand transport, trunk movement, and so forth. Other methods are being developed to extract signals from within the brain or peripheral nerve tissue, but such methods are invasive and expensive.

And that’s why researchers and developers are turning to myoelectric systems. I’m not a complete dick, so here’s a brief explanation of myoelectric systems. Myoelectric systems focus on the application of myoelectric signals to control human-assisting robots or rehabilitation devices based on electromyographic (EMG) activity of residual muscles following an amputation. We’re starting to get our BMI here.

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    What do you mean this is wrong? Wrong BMI or wrong tool?

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The Research

The authors of “Proof of Concept…” tested the myoelectric control system on the commercially available i-limb from Touch Bionics. They sent commands wirelessly to the prosthesis in which “the integer value of the flexion command was proportional to the predicted flexion force.” The subjects, five males and three female, were all right-handed, able-bodied individuals.

We asked subjects to perform two sets of tasks. […] For both tasks, we recorded EMG signals from five surface EMG electrodes and extracted features from these signals to train a one-against-one support vector machine (SVM). This SVM was used to distinguish hand poses, and a random forest regression (RFR) was used to predict each of the five digit forces.

After this came the EMG decoder system training and testing. There’s a lot of math involved at this point, so I highly recommend you go check it out. If fact, here’s the link again. If you’re determined to stick with me, however, I thank you for your loyalty (and possibly laziness). No judgement.

A large part of this research was digit force prediction, but that alone wouldn’t be helpful. The authors point out that “the EMG-to-force mapping for the middle finger is going to be different for a thumb-middle finger precision grasp versus a closed fist. Incorporating an SVM classifier that distinguishes between hand postures, myoelectric control of hand motion, and individual digit forces for everyday activities becomes more feasible.”

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  • Pretty sure I did something wrong here.

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The Takeaway

Utilizing myoelectric systems can add an amount of dexterity that current prostheses just can’t touch. This offshoot of BMI can allow for a more responsive and realistic—in movement—hand/arm prosthesis that could allow amputees—or those individuals with partial paralysis—to function in a more natural manner without tapping into the cognitive resources that EEG-signal control systems use.

Advancements and Mobility in Robotics

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We’ve all heard stories or seen movies or TV shows about the government making super-soldiers with the use of genetic splicing or enhancement drugs or exoskeletons. It’s a subject both troubling—ethical and moral implications aside—and mesmerizing. Who wouldn’t want to be super-strong or super-fast or have enhanced senses? Well, guess what? No, not that. Probably not that, either. Goddamnit, Dave, you’ll only ever be able to do half a cock pushup. Come on. I’m sure the rest of you are getting pretty close, so I’ll help you along.

Massive steps in functional robotics have been taken that can improve quality of life for those with limited or minimal mobility. And not everyone knows it.

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    Seriously, Dave?

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Roam Robotics will Blow Your Mind

Roam Robotics is recreating the exoskeleton design—as in making it lightweight, affordable, and multifunctional. Their products will be applicable across the board, including industrial assist, mobility assistance, and performance enhancement. Founder and CEO, Tim Swift, breaks everything down in this 8-minute video, which is very interesting and, closer to the end, a little unnerving.

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    Taking your moshing to a whole new level. Your mosh can be better, stronger, moshier.

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So, maybe the performance-enhancing aspect is exciting. If you love to hike, this exoskeleton can help you high farther. Like to climb? Then climb higher! Are you a runner? Run better—or at least look less stupid doing it. Yes, this application is pretty cool, but it’s also a bit superficial. For military use, I can see how exoskeleton use gets both more unnerving and has more potentially beneficial uses. But, for mobility? Absolutely, 100-percent yes.

It’s nice to be extra-capable of movement and it’s even nicer to think our soldiers have an advantage, but knowing there is a viable product heading to the market that can better someone’s quality of life—and I mean someone who really needs it—is awesome. In the biblical sense.

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    “That’s right, RoboSharon, I’ll finally beat you at arm wrestling!”

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Which brings us to…

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IHMC and the Cybathlon

IHMC—Institute for Human and Machine Cognition—is a Florida University System not-for-profit research institute pioneering in “technologies aimed at leveraging and extending human capabilities [utilizing a] human-centered approach […] that can be regarded as cognitive, physical, or perceptual orthoses, much as eyeglasses are a kind of ocular orthoses,” according to IHMC’s website.

These systems fit the human and machine components together in ways that exploit their respective strengths and mitigate their respective weaknesses. The design and fit of technological orthoses and prostheses requires a broader interdisciplinary range than is typically found in one organization, thus IHMC staff includes computer scientists, cognitive psychologists, neuroscientists, linguists, physicians, philosophers, engineers, and social scientists of various stripes, as well as some people who resist all attempts to classify them.

IHMC’s research covers any and all things that will eventually become Skynet, including:

  • Artificial intelligence
  • Cognitive science
  • Knowledge modeling and sharing
  • Human interactions with autonomy
  • Humanoid robotics
  • Exoskeletons
  • Advanced interfaces and displays
  • Cybersecurity
  • Communication and collaboration
  • Linguistics and natural language processing
  • Computer-mediated learning systems
  • Intelligent data understanding
  • Software agents
  • Expertise studies
  • Work practice simulation
  • Knowledge representation
  • Big data and machine learning

And more…

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    Oh yeah? I bet they can’t do this!

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Back in November of The-Year-that-Killed-Every-Celebrity-We-Loved, IHMC teamed up with 26-year-old Mark Daniel for the highly-recognized-as-a-thing-that-exists Cybathlon. Last year marked the first ever Cybathlon—but seriously, please recognize it as a thing, and we’ll get to why—which was held in Zurich, Switzerland, “where 70 robot-aided athletes from 25 countries competed against one another,” according to “A Robotic Exoskeleton Powered this Disabled U.S. Athlete to a Prize in the ‘Robot Olympics,’” by Luke Dormehi.

Are you ready for why you should remember the Cybathlon in the future? In the aforementioned article, Danial explains: “We needed that kind of publicity and exposure in both the robotics and disabled community. I can’t tell you how many people I’ve spoken to who didn’t even know this was being explored. They’re blown away that this technology exists at all.”

Seriously? You mean to tell me it’s 2017 and we’re closing in on tech that can help those suffering from paralysis to be functionally mobile again and these same people know nothing about it?! Crazy, right?

We’ve arrived at a time when scientific and technological advances that can increase quality of life are being explored, researched, and made better, functional, and more affordable. Isn’t it about time the whole world was in on this news? Scientific developments like these need to be widespread knowledge.

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