In a post on LinkedIn, the company highlighted the development conducted by Stanford University and the University of Michigan. Researchers developed “a high-performance” BCI that allows intuitive, finger-based control of a virtual quadcopter using only thought.
The research team of Matthew Willsey, Nishal Shah, Donald Avansino, Nick Hahn, Ryan Jamiolkowski, Foram Kamdar, Leigh Hochberg, Francis Willett and Jaimie Henderson published their work in Nature.
According to Blackrock Neurotech, the system decodes both vertical and horizontal movements across the thumb, index-middle and ring-small finger groups. This enables continuous, four-degree-of-freedom control. The company says this doubles prior systems’ functionality and achieves a six-fold improvement over EEG-based methods.
In trials, the user achieved a target acquisition rate of 76 targets per minute with 100% accuracy. The human-centered design demonstrated restored finger movement control for the individual with paralysis.
“This accomplishment represents a pivotal step forward in addressing the unmet needs of individuals with paralysis for independence, social connection, and recreation,” Blackrock Neurotech wrote on LinkedIn. “Beyond gaming, the technology lays the groundwork for restoring fine motor skills, enabling tasks such as typing, composing music, operating advanced software, and participating in remote work.
“Blackrock Neurotech is proud to contribute our 96-channel microelectrode arrays as part of the BrainGate2 clinical trial, which made the precise decoding of neural signals possible.”
Willsey wrote on LinkedIn that the researchers also plan to adapt a neural network decoding algorithm for iterative closed-loop training. They seek to explain how to generate accurate training data. According to Willsey, multiple decodable fingers make closed-loop training challenging in a person with paralysis.
See a video demonstration here.
More about Blackrock Neurotech
Blackrock Neurotech develops the NeuroPort Array neural interfacing system. The system, used in human BCIs since 2004, helped patients regain tactile function, movement of limbs and prosthetics and the ability to control digital devices. They can achieve this despite diagnoses of paralysis and other neurological disorders.
In 2021, Blackrock Neurotech received FDA breakthrough device designation for its MoveAgain BCI system for providing immobile patients with the ability to control a range of devices by only thinking. The company said at the time of receiving the breakthrough nod that MoveAgain BCI could offer improved mobility and independence that leads to returning to work, participating in leisure activities and communicating more effectively and quickly.
The company said next-generation BCIs could extend further beyond those capabilities. It unveiled its next-generation Neuralace BCI in late 2022.
Last year, the company picked up $200 million in funding to further support its BCI technology. Analysts estimate a total addressable market (TAM) worth around $400 billion in the U.S. alone for BCI.
