Witnessing the Future of Brain Machine Interfaces

On Monday of this week, I got a glimpse into the future of brain-machine interfaces in Eugene, Oregon.

Below are images taken during a tour at the University of Oregon’s neuro-engineering research lab run by thin-film implant expert Felix Deku, PhD. Here, he is beaming as he shows off what he believes will be the future of many forms of brain-machine interface devices, including deep brain stimulation. 

What he has engineered is a thin-film ultramicroelectrode array microfabricated in a new type of ceramic biomaterial for neural stimulation and recording. Embedded within are 128 bi-directional channels, meaning that every tiny dot you see in the image above can record and stimulate neurons at the targeted area.

Today, some of the most advanced Deep Brain Stimulation electrodes typically have 4 or 8 such channels, and they are typically much thicker and more blunt than what Felix has developed, such as Medtronic’s Percept system, which I have inside of my brain to help me control my Parkinson’s disease. Future devices, such as those being built in Eugene, will be able to be used for many more indications, such as Alzheimer’s or Depression, and will be orders of magnitude more precise and should be much easier to implant than what we have today.  

I for one have long thought that future electrodes would look and act much more like actual neurons, thank you to Felix and the entire Deku Lab for pushing us closer to that future.

Credit also to Cheryl and Scott Hansell. They were high school sweethearts who grew up in Corvalis, not far from the University of Oregon campus. They came by Monday to share their journey, as did I, as part of a panel session organized by Felix on the grounds of the beautiful new Phil and Penny Knight Campus for Accelerating Scientific Impact. 

Scott, who is seated on the far left in the images below beside his wife Cheryl, had a DBS implant 18 years ago to help him better manage his form of Parkinson’s disease. It was especially great for me to see him still able to enjoy life all these years later. It is truly amazing how even older DBS systems can restore years of life to individuals such as Scott. I can only imagine the improvements future such systems will bring.

A big hearty thank you to all who came out Monday to hear me speak alongside Scott and Cheryl and for allowing us to share our patient journeys with you. It is humbling and inspiring to get to meet so many of the individuals driving forward ever-better treatments for people like me. 

I left sincerely looking forward to returning again one day and reinvigorated by all that the future has in store. If you want to read more about the past, present and future of such neuromodulation devices you can now purchase my new book titled Reprogramming The Brain at the link below.