Glossary / Brain–computer interfaces
Brain-computer interface
Technology that reads the brain's electrical signals and turns them into control of a computer or machine. Abbreviated BCI.
In 1973 Jacques Vidal at UCLA set out a programme for communicating with computers directly through brain signals, using the phrase "brain-computer interface"[1].
Approaches divide by how the signal is read. Recording from outside the skull is safe but blurry; implanting electrodes in the brain captures fine detail at the cost of surgical risk. Reading from inside a blood vessel aims between the two.
Related terms
- 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.
- BiocompatibilityThe ability of a material or device placed in the body to keep doing its job without causing harm or rejection.
- Randomized controlled trialA trial that assigns participants by lot to receive a treatment or not, and compares outcomes, so that the treatment's effect can be measured without bias.