After being fed through the jugular vein, a tiny, “thought-controlled” device can record brain activity from a nearby blood vessel, thus eliminating the need for doctors to crack open the skull, a small trial shows.
The device, called Stentrode, is designed to let people with paralysis operate assistive technologies using only their thoughts. For example, trial participants used the device to generate text messages and emails and to do online banking and shopping, according to a new report, published Monday (Jan. 9) in the journal JAMA Neurology (opens in new tab). (Early data from the trial were also presented in March 2022 at the American Academy of Neurology’s 74th Annual Meeting in Seattle.)
Whereas other mind-reading devices designed for similar purposes are typically placed on top of or within the brain during an open-brain surgery, doctors can implant Stentrode without having to split open a patient’s skull, the trial organizers wrote in the report.
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