Glossary / Brain–computer interfaces
Biocompatibility
The ability of a material or device placed in the body to keep doing its job without causing harm or rejection.
It once meant simply a material that provokes no reaction. In 2008 David Williams argued that it should be judged by whether, in a given place and for a given purpose, the material performs its function without eliciting undesirable effects[1].
For electrodes implanted in the brain, scar-like tissue forming around them and weakening the signal, and degradation of the materials, are major obstacles to long-term use.
Related terms
- Brain-computer interfaceTechnology that reads the brain's electrical signals and turns them into control of a computer or machine. Abbreviated BCI.
- StentrodeA device that mounts electrodes on a stent — a mesh tube used to hold blood vessels open — and delivers it through the neck to a vein near the brain, reading brain signals through the vessel wall.