ENGINEERS at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the United States say they have developed tiny electronic devices that can be injected into an arm, travel through the bloodstream and attach to the brain.
The “microscopic, wireless bioelectronics” – one-billionth the size of a grain of rice – are designed to ”autonomously self-implant in a target region of the brain”, according to MIT, which said the researchers have spent six years working on the project.
The idea is that these tiny chips deliver “focused treatment” by electronically stimulating the targeted area of the brain – a development that could lead to new treatments for brain diseases and eliminate the need for risky and complex surgeries to implant devices.
The team’s paper, published by the journal Nature Biotechnology, was based on tests on mice that showed the “miniscule implants” as capable of identifying and travelling “to a specific brain region without the need for human guidance”.
After that, the chips can be “wirelessly powered to provide electrical stimulation to the precise area” in a form of stimulation known as ”neuromodulation”.
The human immune system does not reject the robot invaders, as they are “integrated with living, biological cells before being injected”, allowing them to cross the blood-brain barrier without causing damage.
”We have demonstrated that a bioelectronic implant for the brain ... can autonomously implant without external intervention and enables wirelessly-controlled, focal brain stimulation,” the authors wrote.
The researchers say they hope to start clinical trials (in humans) within three years. – dpa
