New breakthrough in brain-computer interface, micro-implantable device revolutionizing treatment of cranial nerve diseases | GeneOnline News

Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) technology is currently a hot topic in the field of brain neuroscience research. One of the main applications is to achieve neuromodulation effects by implanting artificial devices in the brain. Researchers and engineers at Rice University in the United States have recently made breakthroughs in the development of brain implants. The team developed an implantable device that is only 9 millimeters wide (about the size of a pea) and successfully tested it on the brains of humans and pigs.

The research team is composed of experts from Rice University’s School of Engineering and the neurotechnology company Motif Neurotech, as well as two senior neurologists from Baylor College of Medicine and UTHealth Houston. Get involved. The results were published in the journal “Science Advances” (Science Advances) published in. The new device is called “Digitally-programmable Over-brain Therapeutic microstimulator (DOT)”. It is the smallest device of its kind in history. It can also be powered wirelessly without batteries and can be powered by human hardware. The meninges (dura mater) stimulate the brain. The team said that DOT is not only expected to bring breakthroughs in the treatment of refractory depression or various neurological diseases, but can also make the implantation process safer and less invasive, reduce patients’ doubts and resistance, and make the treatment more popular.

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Innovative micro-implantable device breaks through the limitations of existing neuromodulation technology

Neuromodulation technology, as its name implies, delivers drugs or sends electrical signals to specific target nerves to regulate or control their operation. One such strategy is bioelectronic therapies, which use electrical stimulation of the central or peripheral nervous system through brain implants. In recent years, the applications of these implantable medical devices have been increasing, including reducing pain, improving movement disorders, and treating mental or neurological diseases. Nervous system diseases, and helping patients with spinal cord injuries rehabilitate, etc.

However, existing implantable devices that provide deep brain stimulation (Deep Brain Stimulation) are relatively large in size and require additional batteries to be placed in other parts of the body and connected to the implant with wires to power them. This means that the implantation process requires more and more invasive surgeries (such as craniotomy), and the cost will therefore remain high. At the patient level, large implants can cause inconvenience in daily life. They also face the risk of wire breakage or failure, and the battery will depreciate and require replacement surgery again in the future. Based on the above factors, even though the effectiveness of existing neuromodulation devices has been confirmed by multiple clinical studies, and even doctors have informed patients that it is necessary to undergo such treatments, most patients still view implant surgery as a daunting option, making it difficult to popularize the treatment.

Research project leader Dr. Jacob Robinson, professor of electrical and computer engineering and bioengineering at Rice University, said that DOT has two leading characteristics. First, the device uses magnetoelectric wireless power transmission technology, which converts magnetic fields into electrical pulses. Additionally, the DOT is only 9 mm wide, yet the device is capable of delivering stimulation voltages up to 14 volts, producing current stimulation pulses equivalent to approximately 6.75 to 14.5 milliamperes. With these two major advantages, the implantation process can be greatly simplified. Patients do not need to be hospitalized and can go home to recover the same day after undergoing a minimally invasive surgery of about 30 minutes.

Joshua Woods, the first author of the paper and a doctoral student in Professor Robinson’s laboratory, described the invention of DOT as an unprecedented achievement. On the one hand, the device is powered by an external transmitter and can drive the stimulator without the need for additional implanted batteries and wires. On the other hand, he emphasized that no team has ever successfully used such a small implant to use wireless power transmission to generate electrical pulse signals of good enough quality and high enough intensity to penetrate the dura mater and stimulate the cerebral cortex.

Lowering costs and reducing risks, DOT helps make neuromodulation treatments more accessible

In short-term tests on human subjects, researchers found that DOT can effectively stimulate the motor cortex (the area of ​​the cerebral cortex responsible for controlling voluntary movement), causing the subjects to produce hand movement responses. The team also tested DOT in pigs, and the results showed that the device could operate stably in the body after implantation and continue to generate electrical pulse stimulation signals to the pigs’ brains for 30 days. These results mean that doctors can use minimally invasive surgery to achieve precise neuroregulation in the future, which is expected to make bioelectronic therapies more popular. Dr. Sameer Sheth, professor of neurosurgery at Baylor College of Medicine, pointed out that DOT can overcome the limitations of existing deep brain stimulation technology and provide a minimally invasive and lower-risk treatment option, which may benefit more patients in need of effective neuromodulation therapy in the long run.

Professor Robinson, who is also the founder and CEO of Motif Neurotech, said that with the simplification of neuromodulation procedures and the miniaturization of devices, patients may only need to follow doctor’s instructions in the future, sit at home and wear wearable devices, which can be easily controlled using mobile phones or smart watches. implants to achieve the desired therapeutic effect. Furthermore, DOT has a wide range of potential applications, from conditions that require the stimulator to operate for extended periods of time (such as treating epilepsy) to indications that require only a few minutes of use per day (such as depression and obsessive-compulsive disorder). New gadgets can also come in handy.

It is worth mentioning that Motif Neurotech itself was derived from Rice University’s Biotech Launch Pad. This neurotechnology start-up company, headquartered in Houston, Texas, is currently actively exploring the potential of applying brain-computer interface technology to the treatment of neurological diseases, and the DOT stimulator is its main research and development project. Motif completed an oversubscribed Series A round of financing in January 2024, raising a total of US$18.75 million, providing the company with the critical capital needed to develop DOT. At the same time, Motif is applying for approval from the FDA in order to conduct long-term human clinical trials as soon as possible to further verify the therapeutic effect and safety of DOT.

Further reading: Is recovery from paralysis about to become a reality? Neuralink brain-computer interface first human clinical trial starts recruitment

References:
1. https://news.rice.edu/news/2024/rice-team-demonstrates-miniature-brain-stimulator-humans
2. https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.adn0858
3. https://www.neuromodulation.com/about-neuromodulation
4. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-020-16046-6
5. https://www.bcm.edu/people-search/sameer-sheth-30585
6. http://biotechlaunchpad.rice.edu/
7. https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240124154216/en/Motif-Neurotech-Raises-18.75-Million-in-Series-A-Financing-to-Advance-Implantable-Device-for-Treatment- Resistant-Depression

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