Neuroprosthetics
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Neuroprosthetics (also called neural prosthetics) is a discipline related to neuroscience and biomedical engineering concerned with developing neural prostheses. Neural prostheses are a series of devices that can substitute a motor, sensory or cognitive modality that might have been damaged as a result of an injury or a disease. Cochlear implants provide an example of such devices. These devices substitute the functions performed by the ear drum and Stapes, while simulating the frequency analysis performed in the cochlea. A microphone on an external unit gathers the sound and processes it; the processed signal is then transferred to an implanted unit that stimulates the auditory nerves through a microelectrode array.
The development of such devices has had a profound impact on the quality of human life, and research in this field intends to resolve disabilities.
There is another side to the application of neural prostheses. These implantable devices can also be used in animal experiments as a tool for neuroscientists to develop a better understanding of how the brain works. Wireless electrical recording from the brain of awake, freely behaving animals can open many important doors into understanding how the brain handles different functions. Accurately probing and recording the electrical signals in the brain would help better understand the relationship among a local population of neurons that are responsible for a specific function. In order to substitute sensory, motor or cognitive modalities, we need to first understand which part of the brain is responsible for those modalities and how those functions are performed. Neuroprosthetics and neuro science have a very intertwined relationship. Neuroprostheses contribute to better understanding of the neural system and this better understanding helps develop better, more application-specific neural prostheses.
There are many challenges which must be overcome in order to develop these devices. Any implanted device has to be very small to be to minimally invasive, especially in the brain, eye or cochlea. Also this implant would have to communicate with the outside world wirelessly. This bidirectional wireless communication requires a high bandwidth for real-time data transmission; this is a great challenge considering that this data link has to operate through the skin. The minimal size of the implant means no battery can be embedded in the implant. Instead, the implant works on wireless power transmission through the skin. This is just as challenging as the data transmission. The tissue surrounding the implant is usually very sensitive to temperature rise so the implant must have very low power consumption in order to assure it won't harm the tissue. Another very important issue is the bio compatibility of the material that the implants are coated with. The more biocompatible these materials are, the less tissue reaction they will cause thus resulting less implant risk and longer implant period.
Gradually as these devices become safer and our understanding of how the brain works enhances the use of these devices will become more and more common and help people with severe disabilities live a normal life. The neuroprosthetic seeing the most widespread use is the cochlear implant, with approximately 100,000 in use worldwide Template:As of.
Today, the use of cochlear implants and pacemakers has become an undeniable fact of life. The future holds an exciting prospect for the every day use of a variety of neural prostheses.
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