
A cap containing a new type of EEG electrode can be used to control a toy car with brain waves. CREDIT Adapted from Nano Letters 2019, DOI: 10.1021/acs.nanolett.9b02019
It sounds like science fiction: controlling electronic devices with brain waves.
But researchers have developed a new type of electroencephalogram (EEG) electrode that can do just that, without the sticky gel required for conventional electrodes. Even better, the devices work through a full head of hair. The researchers report the flexible electrodes, which could someday be used in brain-computer interfaces to drive cars or move artificial limbs, in the ACS journal Nano Letters.
Often used to diagnose seizure disorders and other neurological conditions, EEGs are machines that track and record brain wave patterns. To conduct an EEG, technicians typically use a very sticky gel to attach electrodes to different regions of the patient’s scalp. However, this gel is difficult to wash out of hair and sometimes irritates the skin. In addition, hair interferes with the electrical signals. Ming Lei, Bo Hong, Hui Wu and colleagues wanted to develop an EEG electrode that is flexible, robust and gel-free. Such an electrode could help patients, but also might allow people to someday control devices with their brains.
To make the electrodes, the researchers placed silver nanowires in a commercially available melamine sponge. The electrodes cost only about 12 cents each to make and could be mass-produced. The team assembled 10 electrodes into a flexible silicon cap and measured their performance when worn by people with shaved or hairy heads. On hairless skin, the new electrodes recorded brain waves as well as conventional ones. What’s more, the flexibility of the electrodes allowed them to perform similarly on hairy and hairless skin, unlike the conventional devices. A volunteer wearing the cap could control a toy car with her mind, making it go forward, backward, left or right. The electrodes are mechanically stable through different cycles and movements and are also resistant to heat and sweat, the researchers say.
Learn more: Brain-computer interfaces without the mess
The Latest on: Controlling electronic devices with brain waves
via Google News
The Latest on: Controlling electronic devices with brain waves
- Brain Scientific Unveils New Initiative to Develop Brain E-Tattoo Device for the Brain ...on January 21, 2021 at 10:17 pm
NEW YORK, Jan. 21, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- via InvestorWire -- Brain Scientific Inc. (OTCQB: BRSF ) (“Brain Scientific” or the “Company”), a neurology-focused medical device and software company, has ...
- Brain Scientific Unveils New Initiative to Develop Brain E-Tattoo Device for the Brain Diagnostics Marketon January 21, 2021 at 5:48 am
Tattoo Technology is Expected to Provide Continuous Monitoring for Uninterrupted Data Collection in Patients with ...
- Nonsurgical treatment for cerebral infarction using wearable wireless ultrasound deviceson January 19, 2021 at 10:15 am
Cerebral infarction, commonly known as ischemic stroke, has a high mortality rate and causes severe damage to nervous cells in the brain owing to the loss of oxygen, which results in limiting body ...
- CES 2021: Advanced Devices, Advanced Designson January 13, 2021 at 4:52 pm
The difference in technology between the first CES I attended in 1985 and the current event is as striking as watching a movie from the period and making fun of the fashion.
- Pivotal discovery in quantum and classical information processingon January 13, 2021 at 4:03 pm
They demonstrated a novel approach that allows real-time control of the ... leading to advances in electronic devices and quantum signal processing. Microwave photons are elementary particles forming ...
- Does vaping lead young people to smoke cigarettes? These researchers say they have an answeron January 12, 2021 at 2:10 pm
Young people aged 12 to 24 who used electronic cigarettes were three times as likely as non-users to be daily cigarette smokers down the line, according to a four-year study published in the journal ...
- Youth e-cigarette users are 3 times as likely to become daily cigarette smokers, a new study sayson January 12, 2021 at 3:03 am
Youth e-cigarette use can serve as a gateway to future cigarette smoking, a new study suggests. Young people aged 12 to 24 who used electronic cigarettes were three times as likely as non-users to be ...
- Brain Monitoring Systems Market Analysis and In-depth study on Market Size Trends, Emerging Growth Factors and Regional Forecast to 2028on January 11, 2021 at 2:02 pm
With the incremental growth of the healthcare industry, technology companies are converging with top healthcare manufacturers to roll out innovative medical devices with improve efficiency and ...
- Innovative Deep Brain Stimulation Device Reads Brain Signals, Allowing For Individualized Treatment For Parkinson's Patientson January 7, 2021 at 5:41 am
Pacific Neuroscience Institute is the first provider in the Providence health system to treat a patient with an innovative surgically ...
- Scientists discover how our brains track where we and others goon December 24, 2020 at 8:15 am
Researchers used a special backpack to wirelessly monitor the brain waves ... that control what an octopus sees to helping people paralyzed by spinal cord injuries regain movements by upgrading ...
via Bing News