Scientists develop bionic brain
SCIENTISTS have developed a bionic chip to take over areas of the brain damaged by disease, stroke, or injury.
The device, once the stuff of science fiction, would contain all the information needed for a specific area of the brain to work normally.
It would be fitted under the skin on any part of the body and wirelessly transmit information to damaged areas of the brain via electrodes. Thousands of people lose brain functions each year due to head injuries, strokes or old age.
The device, called the Rehabilitation Nano Chip, sends out a continuous electrical current to a certain area of the brain to control symptoms.
Using this method the chip could restore functions that had been lost allowing patients to lead a normal life.
British scientists based at Newcastle University are part of a European project led from the University of Tel Aviv, Israel, which aims to have patients using the chips within six years. Among those who would benefit would be the growing number of soldiers who have suffered brain injuries while fighting in Afghanistan.
At the moment researchers are concentrating their efforts on restoring movement but they plan to use the technology to restore memory loss caused by diseases such as Alzheimer’s.
Professor Matti Mintz of Tel Aviv University who is heading the project said: “We are working in areas that nobody thought was possible.
“If you told someone 10 years ago you could put an area of brain function on a chip they wouldn’t have believed you.
One of the biggest problems of old age is not memory loss but problems with balance causing elderly people to fall and lose the confidence to walk. Just solving a problem in the brain to do with balance will save healthcare systems hundreds of millions of pounds.”
The project, which has £2 million of European Union funding, involves scientists in countries including Israel, Austria, Spain, Sweden and the UK.
The chip is wirelessly linked to tiny electrodes implanted in the brain. The research team that includes doctors, psychologists and biologists, is hoping to begin trials within three years.
Doctors use a technology called deep brain stimulation to treat conditions such as epilepsy, depression and Parkinson’s disease.
This uses electrodes implanted on the surface of the brain to send out a continual electrical current to control symptoms but patients become resistant to the treatment over a period of years and symptoms reappear. The bionic chip could be used as a long-term alternative.