Brain-machine interfaces are one of those incredible ideas that were once the reserve of science fiction. However, in recent years scientists have begun to experiment with primitive forms of the technology, even going as far as helping a quadriplegic control an exoskeleton using tiny electrode sensors implanted in his brain.
Perhaps the most well-known recent investigation into brain-machine interfaces has come from Elon Musk’s Neuralink, which is attempting to develop a tiny, easily implantable device that can instantly read and relay neural activity. While Neuralink is working to create a device that can be delivered into one’s brain easily, these kinds of brain-machine interfaces still fundamentally require some kind of device to be surgically implanted.
A new study led by researchers from Caltech is demonstrating a non-invasive brain-machine interface using functional ultrasound (fUS) technology. The landmark proof-of-concept study reveals an ultrasound technique recording brain activity in monkeys and then using that data to predict their subsequent motor movements.
The preliminary research utilized non-human primates to explore whether ultrasound recordings could be used to predict behavior. Mikhail Shapiro, one of the authors on the new study, says the first question the researchers were asking was whether high-resolution blood flow dynamics in the brain, as measured by ultrasound, could be associated with animal behavior.