Thursday March 28th, 2024
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Groundbreaking New Device Allows Easier Interface Between Man And Machine

DARPA's new design for a minimally invasive new brain machine interface means that disabilities may soon be a thing of the past.

Staff Writer

Some of the most alluring tropes in sci-fi, cybernetic implants, and mind-machine interfaces have taken one giant step towards real life. 

A group of scientists from the University of Melbourne, funded by the U.S. DARPA, have claimed to develop a way for brains and computers to communicate that doesn’t involve cracking a person’s skull open like an egg.

The ’stentrode’ is basically a stent –little tubes that help repair malfunctioning blood vessels – covered in electrodes (clever name DARPA). The device, which is a little bigger than a toothpick, is sent through a catheter in the patient’s neck, bypassing the pesky skull and the macabre process of removing a section of it to get at the juicy brain meats. 

Besides fulfilling our fantasies of being a fantastically handsome group of cyborgs with rocket-powered fists, this technology will be used to drastically improve the quality of life for people with disabilities and neurological disorders, including Parkinson’s disease and seizures.
 
In 2017, the Royal Melbourne and Austin Hospitals in Australia will enroll a small group of paralysed patients in a clinical trial, implanting them with the stentrode. If successful, the devices may be on sale in as little as six years. 

Egypt is not the easiest country to get around in for those with disabilities. The potential of this technology to improve the quality of life of the more than 10 million disabled people is limitless. Hopefully, the technology will be cheap enough and available in the region without interference.

After we get them to everyone who really needs them, I’ll be one of the first ones in line for new super-strength exoskeletons and iPhone implants.