Brain-Machine Interface
Brain-Machine Interface is a type of technology that establishes communication between the biological brain with an external device, allowing the user to interface with said devices using only neurological input. While this technology has made tremendous breakthroughs from cochlear implants to neuro-prosthetics, it also raises an array of ethical issues as these devices will gather data that is on a whole new level of intimacy of the user.
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History
1924
A German neuroscientist, Hans Berger, discovers that the human brain gives off electrical signals. He successfully measured this electrical activity and observed different patterns in the electrical waves depending on what tasks the brain was carrying out
Applications of BMI
The human brain consists of billions of neurons, that are connected to one another via axon and dendrites. These neurons produces electrical signals that passes through other neurons to control every voluntary action of the human body. BMI takes advantages of this by relaying the electrical signal to an external machine which then interprets it and carries out a certain task
Neuroprothesis
One prominent application of BMI technology is in neuro-prothesis, which has revolutionized the field of prosthetics. Traditionally, patients who needed prosthetics for variety of reasons were unable to regain full range of movement and dexterity even with prosthetics after losing a limb.