nanoREV.

Brain-Machine Interfaces and Nanotechnology

Advancements in both neuroscience and microelectronics over the past decades has brought about new ways for computer interfacing with the human brain. Neuroscience has brought about enhanced understanding of the working of the brain via electroencephalography and has applied such understanding to neuroprothetics offering various ways of repairing damage caused by stroke or trauma. Meanwhile, microelectronics continues to be miniaturized to nanoscale dimensions while more biocompatible materials are being incorporated into semiconductor research.

The applications of brain-machine interfaces created by such developments have so far been mostly limited to the medical realm. However, new companies such as Emotiv and Neurosky are beginning to make related technology available for video gaming controllers using electrodes to detect the emotional state of the brain to control a game character or object. It is not too difficult to see that refinements of this type of technology can be adapted to control various other electronic devices.

Some recent developments of nanotechnology in this area include the use of carbon nanotubes as coatings for electrodes to improve biocompatibility or using carbon nanotubes as a nanoelectrode probe as described in this patent application from Tsinghua University.