Category Archives: Neurotechnology

Neurological disorders like Parkinsons, the aftermath of stroke, limb loss and paralysis significantly diminish the length and quality of life affecting about one in six people worldwide. But a growing number of biomedical innovations, driven in large part by an aging population dealing with debilitating health issues, are improving both cognitive and motor function.

A new National Science Foundation Industry/University Cooperative Research Center (I/UCRC) will focus on developing and testing new neuraltechnologies with the potential to dramatically enhance patient function across a wide range of conditions while both lowering costs and increasing accessibility.

The BRAIN Center (Building Reliable Advances and Innovation in Neurotechnology) will be led by researchers from the University of Houston and Arizona State University and, working with industry partners, will speed technologies to market.

BRAIN will focus on developing and testing neurotechnologies designed to address a wide range of sensory, motor and cognitive functions. Such neuraltechnologies could save an estimated $400 billion in future costs, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The BRAIN Center is a way to bring together top faculty at both institutions to address critical challenges in the biomedical field, said Jose Luis Contreras-Vidal, professor of electrical and computer engineering at UH. The best way to do that is working with industry.

Contreras-Vidal and Marco Santello, director of ASUs School of Biological Health Sciences, will lead the project, which involves more than 50 researchers from both institutions, along with 14 members from industry, including several hospital systems. The researchers come from a wide range of disciplines, from engineering to law, data science and physiology. More information is available on the center website.

Medical advances have dramatically increased life expectancy in the 21st century, said Santello. The BRAIN Center will enable us to develop safe, reliable neurotechnologies to address the rise in chronic, degenerative diseases associated with an aging population. The BRAIN Center was launched with a $1.5 million grant from the National Science Foundation, shared equally by the universities; industry collaborators pay $50,000 a year to partner with faculty, using university laboratories to co-develop and validate new technologies.

With dedicated space on both campuses, the center will host two meetings a year, starting with a summer meeting in Phoenix and a second meeting in Houston this fall. Industry/faculty teams will present proposals for developing collaborative research projects. Research areas range from Big Data to neurorehabilitation and neuromodulation device development, to robotic-assisted therapy and regulatory science.

The NSF grant also includes a workforce training component, with a focus on recruiting and training students from underrepresented communities in undergraduate programs.

We are training the next workforce, said Contreras-Vidal. The technology is so new, we dont have enough people to design, repair, validate and prescribe these technologies.

Originally posted here:

Academia, Industry Collaborate on Solutions to Neural Disease, Injury - Texas Medical Center (press release)

Newswise WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. April 19, 2017 A closed-loop acoustic stimulation brainwave technology significantly reduced symptoms in people suffering from post-traumatic stress in a small pilot study conducted at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center. The study is published in the April 19 online edition of the journal BMC Psychiatry.

The effects of chronic stress are killing people and the medical profession has not yet found an answer for how best to treat them, said Charles H. Tegeler, M.D., professor of neurology at Wake Forest School of Medicine, a part of Wake Forest Baptist. We believe there is a need for effective, non-invasive, non-drug therapies for symptoms of post-traumatic stress, which is why we conducted this trial.

Nineteen volunteers who reported high scores on the Post-traumatic Stress Disorder Checklist, civilian version (PCL-C), a commonly used symptom inventory, were included in this single-site study. Of those, 18 completed an average of 16 sessions over a total of 16.5 days, with eight days of actual visits to the office, Tegeler said.

The intervention, high-resolution, relational, resonance-based, electroencephalic mirroring (HIRREM), focused on the brain, which is the organ of central command for managing responses to threat and trauma. Participants received a series of HIRREM sessions in which brain electrical activity was monitored noninvasively at high spectral resolution with software algorithms translating selected brain frequencies into audible tones in real time. Those tones were reflected back to participants via ear buds in as little as four milliseconds, providing the brain an opportunity for self-optimization of its electrical pattern.

As a closed-loop neurotechnology, the process did not require any conscious, cognitive activity by the participant, who merely relaxed and listened to the tones.

Its as if the brain can look at itself in an acoustic mirror, recalibrate its patterns towards improved balance and reduced hyperarousal, and can relax, Tegeler said. HIRREM was developed by Brain State Technologies based in Scottsdale, Arizona, and has been licensed to Wake Forest Baptist for collaborative research since 2011.

Participants completed the PCL-C, and 12 also had continuous recording of blood pressure and heart rate, before and after the intervention sessions. Changes in temporal lobe high frequency asymmetry were analyzed from baseline assessment through the first four sessions, and again for the last four sessions. Autonomic cardiovascular regulation was evaluated with analysis of heart rate variability and blood pressure modulation before and after the intervention.

After the sessions, 89 percent (16 of 18) of the participants reported clinically meaningful decreases in symptoms of post-traumatic stress as indicated by a change of at least 10 points from their baseline PCL-C score, Tegeler said. In the entire study group, the average reduction in the PCL-C score was 24 points. There were no adverse events reported.

There is ample scientific evidence that there is some brain asymmetry associated with chronic stress. This study is important because it also showed that there was improved balance in brain pattern activity and significant improvement in the autonomic nervous system function, as measured by heart rate variability and blood pressure modulation. All are relevant to a state of chronic stress, which now seems to affect so many people, Tegeler said.

Study limitations included the case series design and the absence of a control group. Additionally, participants were selected based on self-reported symptoms and on the PCL-C score rather than a formal clinical assessment.

The study was supported by a grant from The Susanne Marcus Collins Foundation, Inc., to the Department of Neurology at Wake Forest Baptist.

Co-authors include: Jared F. Cook, M.A., Catherine L. Tegeler, B.S., Joshua R. Hirsch, B.S.E., Hossam A. Shaltout, Ph.D., Sean L. Simpson, Ph.D., Brian C. Fidali, B.A., of Wake Forest Baptist; and Lee Gerdes and Sung W. Lee, M.D., of Brain State Technologies.

See the rest here:

Reduction of Post -Traumatic Stress Symptoms Associated with Non-Invasive Neurotechnology - Newswise (press release)

April 17, 2017

Neurological disorders like Parkinson's, the aftermath of stroke, limb loss and paralysis significantly diminish the length and quality of lifeaffecting about one in six people worldwide. But a growing number of biomedical innovations, driven in large part by an aging population dealing with debilitating health issues, are improving both cognitive and motor function.

A new National Science Foundation (NSF) Industry/University Cooperative Research Center (I/UCRC) will focus on developing and testing new neuraltechnologies with the potential to dramatically enhance patient function across a wide range of diseases and injuries while both lowering costs and increasing accessibility.

The BRAIN Center (Building Reliable Advances and Innovation in Neurotechnology) will be led by researchers from Arizona State University and the University of Houston and, working with industry partners, will speed technologies to market.

BRAIN will focus on developing and testing neurotechnologies designed to address a wide range of sensory, motor and cognitive functions. Such neuraltechnologies could save an estimated $400 billion in future costs, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

"The BRAIN Center is a way to bring together top faculty at both institutions to address critical challenges in the biomedical field," said Jose Luis Contreras-Vidal, professor of electrical and computer engineering at UH. "The best way to do that is working with industry."

Contreras-Vidal and Marco Santello, director of ASU's School of Biological Health Sciences, will lead the project, which involves more than 50 researchers from both institutions, along with 14 members from industry, including several hospital systems. The researchers come from a wide range of disciplines, from engineering to law, data science and physiology. More information is available on the center websites, https://brain.engineering.asu.edu/research/ and http://brain.egr.uh.edu/

"Medical advances have dramatically increased life expectancy in the 21st century," said Santello. "The BRAIN Center will enable us to develop safe, reliable neurotechnologies to address the rise in chronic, degenerative diseases associated with an aging population."

The BRAIN Center was launched with a $1.5 million grant from the National Science Foundation, shared equally by the universities; industry collaborators pay $50,000 a year to partner with faculty, using university laboratories to co-develop and validate new technologies.

With dedicated space on both campuses, the center will host two meetings a year, starting with a summer meeting in Phoenix and a second meeting in Houston this fall. Industry/faculty teams will present proposals for developing collaborative research projects. Research areas range from Big Data to neurorehabilitation and neuromodulation device development, to robotic-assisted therapy and regulatory science.

The NSF grant also includes a workforce training component, with a focus on recruiting and training students from underrepresented communities in undergraduate programs.

"We are training the next workforce," said Contreras-Vidal. "The technology is so new, we don't have enough people to design, repair, validate and prescribe these technologies."

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Academia, industry collaborate on solutions to neural disease, injury - Medical Xpress

NormanObserver.com

Analyst Activity Jefferies Group LLC Reiterates Hold on Stryker (NYSE:SYK) Market Exclusive The Company offers a range of medical technologies, including orthopedic, medical and surgical, and neurotechnology and spine products. The Company's segments include Orthopaedics; MedSurg; Neurotechnology and Spine, and Corporate and Other. Jefferies Gives a Hold Rating to StrykerAnalyst Ratings Stryker Co. (SYK) Expected to Post Earnings of $1.43 Per Share ...Markets Daily SEC FORM 4SEC all 47 news articles »

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Analyst Activity Jefferies Group LLC Reiterates Hold on Stryker (NYSE:SYK) - Market Exclusive

It's been 15 years since the Human Genome Project gave us the key to our genes, and genetic applications have since skyrocketed. With breakthrough DNA editing tools on their way, the next big challenge in line for science is all about demystifying the potential of the human brain. But, why now?

Because for one, research in neuroscience is booming. Endeavors like the Human Brain Project are about half way completed. With an estimated cost of over $1 Billion and thousands of researchers from all over the world collaborating, we are on the cusp of some revolutionary ideas that will reshape so much of what we know about the brain. At the same time, were seeing remarkable progress made in the fields of advanced technology where computing power is transforming how we live our day to day lives. What these researchers and scientists want is to recreate a virtual brain where various new discoveries can be implemented, shared with the scientific community, and lead us to understand the way our brain works. So brace yourselves, neurotechnology is here to stay.

Most recently, Elon Musk, the guy whos tackling some of the biggest challenges of the century, developing new energy paradigm and technologies to turn us into a multi-planetary species, just stepped in the same arena. In the similar realm as Bryan Johnson's company, Kernel - Musk announced Neuralink, a startup registered as a medical company that is pursuing the creation of an implantable brain to machine interface. Musk calls it the neural lace. And its ultimate goal? Granting humans direct access to the digital world in order to keep up with progress and side effects of AI.

http://cyberpunkitalia.altervista.org/

Now, make no mistake. Musk might well be able to bring his project to fruition. Things are moving fast. But as of now, there is no way to know how long it may take, or if we, as humans, will be ready to go as far as to voluntarily implant electrical devices in our brains. There's clearly a set of ethical, safety, and regulation sticky points here. From a technical standpoint, deep brain stimulation or other medical applications have been around for a long time. However, it was only a couple of days ago that a quadriplegic patient recovered enough mobility to feed. This was only possible thanks to 228 electrodes implanted in his brain and arm. And even if Mark Zuckerberg plans to pour millions in the production of minimally invasive neural interfaces to help those kind of patients, to see a direct to consumer implantable neurotechnology product might well take another 15 to 20 years.

At the same time, Elon Musk's launch of Neuralink is great news. Its a major step in how were pushing academic research out of the labs and putting it in the hands of the consumers. It also means added interest for the field of neurotechnology and how itll lead to greater awareness, funding, and research.

As Elon chases the invasive technology to tap into the human brain, we should also know that there are other ways to understand and enhance the functions of our brain. External active devices can bring a lot of benefits to our everyday life without the risky prospect of a device attached to the surface of your brain. And that's not in 10-15 years, it's happening right now, its already science.

Directed by Robert Zemeckis and written by Zemeckis and Bob Gale

Here, at Rythm, were already working on merging fundamental research, sleep medicine and engineering to push the boundaries of our understanding of the brain. We want to improve our everyday performance and deliver better health. Weve started by tackling sleep with Dreem. Building off years of neuroscience academic research, we created a solution that syncs with your brain activity (electroencephalogram or EEG) to help you recover from your day and enhance your memory. We recently launched our beta product for 500 participants and are gearing for a consumer launch this Summer.

Weve taken our work a step further by fostering a strong partnership between the medical world, sleep laboratories, and the corporate sector. By launching Morpheo, an open and secure sleep diagnosis AI platform, were annotating large sets of sleep data to build models that lead to better understanding of normal and pathologic sleep structure. The AI platform will enable sleep experts to automatically analyze millions of sleep data points instantly, and allow secure and distributed development of machine learning models for automatic diagnosis and detection of patterns. Once this system is in place, neurodegeneratives disease like Alzheimers and Parkinsons will soon be tackled proactively through specific pattern of brain activity. We will be able to practice predictive sleep medicine based on automatic learning and massive data processing.

I am certain that were very close to a future where power of the human brain will coexist with advanced technology. However, I hope that the change it brings will improve our performance and better our health. The journey will be long and arduous, but itll definitely be fulfilling.

If youre keen on hearing more about my thoughts on how neurotechnology will improve our everyday performance and deliver better health for future generations, I invite you to hear my recent talk at Hello Tomorrow conference in 2016.

See more here:

Brain, the last frontier! - Huffington Post

"We have designed a product to attempt to overcome the greatest challenge facing other neural interfaces: chronic brain tissue scarring," said Thomas Oxley, MD, PhD, founder and CEO of Synchron.

"We aim to provide a safe way for patients with severe paralysis to achieve direct brain control of assistive devices. Successful completion of this funding round allows us to commence human studies."

The Stentrode system is small and flexible enough to safely pass through curving blood vessels in a procedure called cerebral angiography, eliminating the need for open brain surgery and direct contact with brain tissue. By using blood vessels to deliver the technology to the brain and house it there, the technique may reduce risk of brain tissue rejection of the device, which has been a significant problem for other techniques.

Pre-clinical studies published in Nature Biotechnology have demonstrated the Stentrode's ability to pick up high-frequency electrical data emitted by the brain. This level of brain recording has previously required invasive electrode implantation through the skull.

According to a global report from McKinsey & Co., in advanced economies, there are 50 million people with impaired mobility due to paralysis. A new industry of 'robotic human augmentation' promises to provide novel solutions to patients with paralysis to achieve enhanced and independent control of their environment.

The Stentrode was initially developed through a multi-departmental collaboration at the University of Melbourne, The Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, and the Royal Melbourne Hospital, Australia. The Australian company SmartStent was spun out in 2012 and was wholly acquired by Silicon Valley-based Synchron in 2016. Early funding for the device was provided from the U.S. Department of Defense, including DARPA and theU.S. Office of Naval Research Global.

Dr. Oxley and Nicholas Opie, PhD, Synchron co-founder and chief technology officer, also received substantial funding from the Australian National Medical Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) to the University of Melbourne Vascular Bionics Laboratory to develop the technology.

About Synchron, Inc.Based in Silicon Valley, Synchron, Inc. is an innovative medical device company focused on the development of minimally invasive neuromodulation technology solutions. Synchron is developing the world's first endovascular neural interface, the StentrodeTM. Development of this technology platform has been funded in part by grants from the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and U.S. Department of Defense (DoD). The company is targeting paralysis due to a range of neurological conditions as a first application. Other applications may include epilepsy and movement disorders.

Stentrode is a trademark of Synchron, Inc.

About NTI Neurotechnology Investors (http://themdadvantage.com ) draws on the knowledge and investment power of over 100 neurology, neurosurgery and radiology specialists from across the U.S. to perform targeted investments in high potential technologies.

To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/synchron-inc-secures-10-million-in-series-a-financing-round-300433942.html

SOURCE Synchron Inc.

http://www.synchronmed.com

Excerpt from:

Synchron Inc. Secures $10 Million in Series A Financing Round - PR Newswire (press release)

Computers and brains already talk to each other daily in high-tech labs and they do it better and better. For example, disabled people can now learn to govern robotic limbs by the sheer power of their mind. The hope is that we may one day be able to operate spaceships with our thoughts, upload our brains to computers and, ultimately, create cyborgs.

Now Elon Musk is joining the race. The CEO of Tesla and SpaceX has acquired Neuralink, a company aiming to establish a direct link between the mind and the computer. Musk has already shown how expensive space technology can be run as a private enterprise. But just how feasible is his latest endeavour?

Neurotechnology was born in the 1970s when Jaques Vidal proposed that electroencephalography (EEG), which tracks and records brain-wave patterns via sensors placed on the scalp (electrodes), could be used to create systems that allow people to control external devices directly with their mind. The idea was to use computer algorithms to transform the recorded EEG signals into commands. Since then, interest in the idea has been growing rapidly.

Indeed, these brain-computer interfaces have driven a revolution in the area of assistive technologies letting people with quadriplegia feed themselves and even walk again. In the past few years, major investments in brain research from the US (the BRAIN initiative) and the EU (the Human Brain project) have further advanced research on them. This has pushed applications of this technology into the area of human augmentation using the technology to improve our cognition and other abilities.

The combination of humans and technology could be more powerful than artificial intelligence. For example, when we make decisions based on a combination of perception and reasoning, neurotechnologies could be used to augment our perception. This could help us in situations such when seeing a very blurry image from a security camera and having to decide whether to intervene or not.

Despite investments, the transition from using the technology in research labs to everyday life is still slow. The EEG hardware is totally safe for the user, but records very noisy signals. Also, research labs have been mainly focused on using it to understand the brain and to propose innovative applications without any follow-up in commercial products. Other very promising initiatives, such as using commercial EEG systems to let people drive a car with their thoughts, have remained isolated.

To try to overcome some of these limitations, several major companies have recently announced investments in research into brain-computer interfaces. Bryan Johnson from human intelligence company Kernel recently acquired the MIT spin-off firm KRS, which is promising to make a data-driven revolution in understanding neurodegenerative diseases. Facebook is hiring a brain-computer interface engineer to work in its secretive hardware division, Building 8.

Musks company is the latest. Its neural lace technology involves implanting electrodes in the brain to measure signals. This would allow getting neural signals of much better quality than EEG but it requires surgery. The project is still quite mysterious, although Musk has promised more details about it soon. Last year he stated that brain-computer interfaces are needed to confirm humans supremacy over artificial intelligence.

The project might seem ambitious, considering the limits of current technology. BCI spellers, which allow people to spell out words by looking at letters on a screen, are still much slower than traditional communication means, which Musk has already defined as incredibly slow. Similar speed limitations apply when using the brain to control a video game.

What we really need to make the technology reliable is more accurate, non-invasive techniques to measure brain activity. We also need to improve our understanding of the brain processes and how to decode them. Indeed, the idea of uploading or downloading our thoughts to or from a computer is simply impossible with our current knowledge of the human brain. Many processes related to memory are still not understood by neuroscientists. The most optimistic forecasts say it will be at least 20 years before brain-computer interfaces will become technologies that we use in our daily lives.

But that doesnt make Musks initiative useless. The neural lace could initially be used to study the brain mechanisms and treat disorders such as epilepsy or major depression. Together with electrodes for reading the brain activity, we could also implant electrodes for stimulating the brain making it possible to detect and halt epileptic seizures.

Brain-computer interfaces also face major ethical issues, especially those based on sensors surgically implanted in the brain. Most people are unlikely to want to have brain surgery or be fit to have it unless vital for their health. This could significantly limit the number of potential users of Musks neural lace. Kernels original idea when acquiring the company KRS was also to implant electrodes in peoples brain, but the company changed its plans six months later due to difficulties related to invasive technologies.

Its easy for billionaires like Musk to be optimistic about the development of brain-computer interfaces. But, rather than dismissing them, lets remember that these visions are nevertheless crucial. They push the boundaries and help researchers set long-term goals.

Theres every reason to be optimistic. Neurotechnology started only started a few years after man first set foot on the moon perhaps reflecting the need for a new big challenge after such a giant leap for mankind. And the brain-computer interfaces were indeed pure science fiction at the time.

In 1965, the Sunday comic strip Our New Age stated:

By 2016, mans intelligence and intellect will be able to be increased by drugs and by linking human brains directly to computers!

We are not there yet, but together we can win the challenge.

Davide Valeriani, is a post-doctoral Researcher in Brain-Computer Interfaces at theUniversity of Essex. This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.

Read the original here:

Elon Musk Wants to Merge Man and MachineHere's What He'll ... - Observer

Halo Neuroscience's headset ensures practice has a bigger impact on the brain and the body

San Francisco-based neurotechnology company Halo Neuroscience has partnered with the San Francisco Giants. After reviewing research and testing the Halo Sport headset, they have now officially incorporated it into every players core training.

During testing, athletes were split into two groups to complete 20-minute warm-ups followed by 60 minutes of focused training to improve skill, speed, and power. Those in one group wore Halo Sport headsets during the 20-minute warm-up. This group saw the greatest improvements in speed work. In a 20-yard dash, almost all the athletes tested demonstrated significant improvement after two weeks, versus athletes in the control group who only demonstrated modest improvement.

Using Halo Sport means that every rep a baseball player puts in during practice has a bigger impact on their brain and body. When a player is at bat, his muscle memory has better recall of all past swings in the batting cage. For a pitcher, the form theyve perfected in training is replicated more precisely on the mound. When a player who has been training for explosivity is on base, they can launch more efficiently because their muscles know how to respond. Training with Halo Sport has been shown to accelerate improvement in bat velocity, grip strength, and speed.

As a result of these findings, the Giants will continue to implement Halo Sport to improve movement-based training for its athletes.

Dave Groeschner, Head Athletic Trainer for the San Francisco Giants, said in a press release:

We are extremely excited to integrate Halos neurostimulation technology into our core training regimen to improve and refine on-field player performance and athleticism. After testing the product internally, weve determined that incorporating Halo Sport Neuropriming into our training programs produces measurable and significant results.

You can learn more about Halo Sport in the video below:

Halo Neuroscience

Read the original here:

How Neurotechnology Is Helping The San Francisco Giants Train Better - PSFK (subscription)

Computers and brains already talk to each other daily in high-tech labs and they do it better and better. For example, disabled people can now learn to govern robotic limbs by the sheer power of their mind. The hope is that we may one day be able to operate spaceships with our thoughts, upload our brains to computers and, ultimately, create cyborgs.

Now Elon Musk is joining the race. The CEO of Tesla and SpaceX has acquired Neuralink, a company aiming to establish a direct link between the mind and the computer. Musk has already shown how expensive space technology can be run as a private enterprise. But just how feasible is his latest endeavour?

Neurotechnology was born in the 1970s when Jaques Vidal proposed that electroencephalography (EEG), which tracks and records brain-wave patterns via sensors placed on the scalp (electrodes), could be used to create systems that allow people to control external devices directly with their mind. The idea was to use computer algorithms to transform the recorded EEG signals into commands. Since then, interest in the idea has been growing rapidly.

Indeed, these brain-computer interfaces have driven a revolution in the area of assistive technologies letting people with quadriplegia feed themselves and even walk again. In the past few years, major investments in brain research from the US (the BRAIN initiative) and the EU (the Human Brain project) have further advanced research on them. This has pushed applications of this technology into the area of human augmentation using the technology to improve our cognition and other abilities.

The combination of humans and technology could be more powerful than artificial intelligence. For example, when we make decisions based on a combination of perception and reasoning, neurotechnologies could be used to augment our perception. This could help us in situations such when seeing a very blurry image from a security camera and having to decide whether to intervene or not.

Despite investments, the transition from using the technology in research labs to everyday life is still slow. The EEG hardware is totally safe for the user, but records very noisy signals. Also, research labs have been mainly focused on using it to understand the brain and to propose innovative applications without any follow-up in commercial products. Other very promising initiatives, such as using commercial EEG systems to let people drive a car with their thoughts, have remained isolated.

To try to overcome some of these limitations, several major companies have recently announced investments in research into brain-computer interfaces. Bryan Johnson from human intelligence company Kernel recently acquired the MIT spin-off firm KRS, which is promising to make a data-driven revolution in understanding neurodegenerative diseases. Facebook is hiring a brain-computer interface engineer to work in its secretive hardware division, Building 8.

Musks company is the latest. Its neural lace technology involves implanting electrodes in the brain to measure signals. This would allow getting neural signals of much better quality than EEG but it requires surgery. The project is still quite mysterious, although Musk has promised more details about it soon. Last year he stated that brain-computer interfaces are needed to confirm humans supremacy over artificial intelligence.

The project might seem ambitious, considering the limits of current technology. BCI spellers, which allow people to spell out words by looking at letters on a screen, are still much slower than traditional communication means, which Musk has already defined as incredibly slow. Similar speed limitations apply when using the brain to control a video game.

What we really need to make the technology reliable is more accurate, non-invasive techniques to measure brain activity. We also need to improve our understanding of the brain processes and how to decode them. Indeed, the idea of uploading or downloading our thoughts to or from a computer is simply impossible with our current knowledge of the human brain. Many processes related to memory are still not understood by neuroscientists. The most optimistic forecasts say it will be at least 20 years before brain-computer interfaces will become technologies that we use in our daily lives.

But that doesnt make Musks initiative useless. The neural lace could initially be used to study the brain mechanisms and treat disorders such as epilepsy or major depression. Together with electrodes for reading the brain activity, we could also implant electrodes for stimulating the brain making it possible to detect and halt epileptic seizures.

Brain-computer interfaces also face major ethical issues, especially those based on sensors surgically implanted in the brain. Most people are unlikely to want to have brain surgery or be fit to have it unless vital for their health. This could significantly limit the number of potential users of Musks neural lace. Kernels original idea when acquiring the company KRS was also to implant electrodes in peoples brain, but the company changed its plans six months later due to difficulties related to invasive technologies.

Its easy for billionaires like Musk to be optimistic about the development of brain-computer interfaces. But, rather than dismissing them, lets remember that these visions are nevertheless crucial. They push the boundaries and help researchers set long-term goals.

Theres every reason to be optimistic. Neurotechnology started only started a few years after man first set foot on the moon perhaps reflecting the need for a new big challenge after such a giant leap for mankind. And the brain-computer interfaces were indeed pure science fiction at the time.

In 1965, the Sunday comic strip Our New Age stated:

By 2016, mans intelligence and intellect will be able to be increased by drugs and by linking human brains directly to computers!

We are not there yet, but together we can win the challenge.

See original here:

Elon Musk wants to merge man and machine here's what he'll need to work out - The Conversation UK

Lithuanian biometric software company Neurotechnology has announced the release of two biometric time and attendance tracking products.

The release includes the new NCheck Cloud Bio Attendance cloud-based service and the updated NCheck Bio Attendance 4.0 software.

NCheck Cloud Bio Attendance uses biometric face recognition to enable users to check in and out from anywhere via the internet by taking selfies using personal devices or a dedicated device for all users in the company.

The company noted that NCheck Bio Attendance software provides enhanced speed and usability and adds iris recognition to its fingerprint and face recognition capabilities for mobile or on-site time and attendance logging. Both NCheck Cloud Bio Attendance and NCheck Bio Attendance 4.0 generate reports on their own and can export data to third party payroll applications.

A company can set up the NCheck Cloud time and attendance solution in just a few minutes, said Vaidas Didvalis, NCheck project manager for Neurotechnology. Users can check-in and check-out from anywhere using their own devices or they can use a dedicated device for a group of users. Iris recognition integration into the standalone NCheck Bio Attendance enables biometric check-in and check-out when fingerprints and face cannot be used a capability that hospitals and clinical research labs find particularly useful, Didvalis added.

The company said the new NCheck Cloud Bio Attendance cloud-based time and attendance service, all data is accessible via the internet, so administrators can review attendance data, generate reports, add new users and complete other administrative functions with no need to install or maintain software. Up to five users can be registered using a free account.

NCheck Bio Attendance 4.0 provides an extra measure of security with the addition of RFID card and barcode reader integration, which enables user identification through a combination of card scans and biometric verification. The addition of iris recognition is particularly useful in facilities where users cannot touch fingerprint sensors or where faces are often covered, such as hospitals and laboratories. The system administrator can choose which biometric option is preferred.

The latest NCheck version also includes an array of useful new reports, including productivity, absentee and late arrival. As in previous versions, NCheck Bio Attendance 4.0 works with standard Windows PCs and off-the-shelf Android devices; supports a wide range of fingerprint scanners, device cameras and webcams; and includes GPS logging, database synchronization for remote workers, user grouping, shift support and attendance planning among other capabilities.

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Neurotechnology releases new biometric access solutions - Planet Biometrics