What is BrainGate?

BrainGate is a technology that is developed to define the connection between the human brain and the computer. It is a brain implant system that helps people who have lost control of their limbs or their functions in accidents or due to disease. It is a neurotransmitter prosthetic device. 

Need of BrainGate

BrainGate was developed to help people with paralysis or accidents or suffering from diseases that have lost control of movement. This technology is embedded in the scalp of a person’s head and converts his thoughts into movements of the cursor on the computer screen. This technology works because of the way in which our brains function. Our brains are filled with neurons that are connected to each other using dendrites and axons. Our neurons are at work whenever we are thinking, moving, feeling, or remembering something. The work is done by electric signals of about 250 mph. These signals occur due to the potential difference of the ions on the neuron membrane. 

Requirements

1. The Chip: the chip is placed in the cortex of the brain. The cortex is responsible for all movements of the body. It is a square chip of size 4mm. It is studded with about 100 microelectrodes.
2. The Connector: whenever a person is thinking about movement, the neurons in the cortex transmit a signal through the connector to the plug attached to the skull.
3. The Converter: the signal is passed through an amplifier that converts it into optical data that reaches a computer.
4. The Computer: the braingate interface associates the signal patterns to up, down, left, and right movements, and these are connected to a cursor.

Working

A person thinks of moving the cursor. The electrodes in the chip detect this activity. The impulses are transferred from the chip to the pedestal (that protrudes from the scalp) via wires. The pedestal cancels the noise and sends it to the converter for amplification. The signal is sent to a computer after being captured by an acquisition system. The computer translates signals and makes the cursor move. 

Types of Brain-Computer Interface (BCI)

1. Electrocorticography (ECoG): ECog is responsible for measuring the electrical activity of the brain. It is an invasive method of sensing signals. This is placed in the cortex. This involves surgery and may cause scar tissues in the brain. The scar tissues can block signals.
2. Electroencephalography (EEG): EEG is a non-invasive method of sensing the signals. This involves attaching electrodes to the scalp. This method is lesser effective as the skull blocks the most signals and distorts what gets through.

Applications

1. It is used in the classification of the EEG signals.
2. It is applied to multimedia connections.
3. It is used in the evaluation of the algorithms that detect spike.
4. It is applied in controlling a mobile robot by human EEG.
5. It is used for asynchronous control as a brain-controlled switch.
6. It is applied in the evaluation of machine learning algorithms.

Advantages

1. It can control remote devices.
2. It can be used to make or receive phone calls.
3. It is used for accessing the internet.
4. Turning the lights on or off can be done using this.
5. It is used for controlling the robotic arms.
6. Watching and controlling TV is possible.
7. It can be used to use a personal computer.
8. It can lock and unlock doors.
9. It is used in motorized wheelchairs.

Disadvantages

1. It is very expensive.
2. The surgery is risky.
3. It is not yet wireless.
4. It faces difficulty in adapting and learning.
5. It has limitations in the transfer rate of the information.