The Move Towards Cyborgs
Many science fiction movies have predicted the integration of the human mind with computers. Countless franchises have been made from that very concept, and even further, have stemmed to include Cyborgs and even human-like AIs like the Terminator. However, present technology on earth is still in its infant stages in comparison to the futuristic worlds that books and movies predict.
BUT, advances in the field of Brain-Computer Interfaces (BCI) have started to lead towards the vision of a future where computers can be integrated with the human brain effectively and over long periods of time. Maybe even a lifetime. Although the technology that requires the brain and computer to be fully interlinked is still some time away, the promise of a computerized brain is within reach with the introduction of neural dust.
Neural dust may sound fairly suspicious, after all, the idea of having dust particles in the brain is concerning, to say the least. Neural dust motes are small crystals attached to a microscopic computer that uses ultrasonic waves to get power. The mote itself is designed to transfer an electrical signal to a part of the body, much like a nerve cell would do. Thus commanding the body. The piezoelectric crystal converts the power given to the mote by the ultrasonic waves into electrical power to fuel a response in a corresponding tissue or muscle. The computer then sends the information to a system outside the body like a prosthetic or another computer. The dust is essentially a tiny electrical receptor that serves as a connector to devices outside the body.
An electrical signal created by the brain (or central nervous system) and is sent out to a part of the body (for example the leg). This signal reaches the dust mote and the mote transfers the electrical signal to the leg muscle. The computer that makes up part of the dust mote then sends information to an outside object. Since the neural dust is wireless and implanted in the body, it cannot be charged through “normal” means. Instead, the piezoelectric crystal (which is a part of the dust mote) converts ultrasonic waves being outputted by an external device into electrical power. This then can power the device and keep it running inside the human body because ultrasonic waves can “faze” through humans.
As interesting as this all sounds, it’s hard to imagine a practical use for such a small sensor in the body. However, the implications of a microscopic wireless sensor that could one day be made half the width of a human hair is enormous.
The Neural dust could potentially:
- help quadriplegics feed themselves and perform daily tasks
- be used to control a prosthetic limb with the accuracy of a human limb
- monitor the brain for specific mental disorders
- send electrical impulses to the brain and central nervous system for treatment of mental illnesses such as epilepsy
The neural dust was originally implanted into the peripheral nervous system of sedated rats. The study done by researchers at UC Berkeley (who originally designed and proposed the neural dust), showed that the rats’ limbs responded well to the stimulus. This study suggests a strong implication that the neural dust will work on human nerves and tissue as well.
The use of devices that monitor the brain isn’t foreign in this day and age, in fact, many devices such as EEGs can monitor brainwaves and help move objects outside the body. However, many of these devices are not implanted directly into the body and are not wireless. The use of the dust mote allows for a wireless, implantable sensor that would have otherwise been worn outside the body like a cap. In addition, it is small enough not to irritate the body very much.
The researchers at UC Berkeley hope that one-day neural dust can be implanted into human brains and monitor the electrical signals, as well as send out signals, for identifying and treating mental illnesses. One day, these motes may even be able to transfer information through electrical signals to our brains from computers! So while humans can’t become cyborgs yet, there is a very high chance that somewhere in our future, the prophesies that books told may come true! Who knows, a few years in the future, people may start walking around with dust motes inside them.
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