Article: How Machines and the Human Body Are Integrating More Than Ever Before

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Technology now stands poised to transform the interface between humans and computers from an intimate but external connection to a direct, below-the-skin link. The pervasive relationship between people and computers needs no argument. Even with just a cursory walk through a town square or busy street, you’ll easily find one or more people will have a smartphone in their hands, their heads tilted down and focused on their screens. Add to our smartphone connection, in-home smart speakers such as Amazon’s Echo or Microsoft Cortana, and our health monitoring through fitness devices like Fitbit and the human-computer interface appears pervasive and growing.

Below the skin, the human-machine connection became widespread with the development of the artificial cardiac pacemaker. A pacemaker uses electrodes directly connected to the heart and produces electric pulses that stimulate the heart muscle to contract and pump blood. The pacemaker helps patients whose hearts cannot maintain a healthy rhythm. In a publication titled, “The Early History of Cardiac Pacing in Columbia,” the first pacemakers used phonograph turntables to set the rhythm and 12-volt car batteries to provide the electricity for cardiac stimulation. (PACE) The invention of the semiconductor and improved battery technology led to the much smaller implantable pacemakers used today by millions of patients.

Correcting cardiac function with an implantable machine represents only one facet of the research in public and private laboratories worldwide with below-the-skin, human-computer interfaces. Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, also leads a company called Neuralink. Neuralink continues research and development on a direct link between the human brain and computers. In a Musk-authored white paper in the Journal of Medical and Internet Research titled, “An Integrated Brain-Machine Interface Platform with Thousands of Channels,” the author describes a next-generation implant that can read the information directly from the brain for more refined control of prosthetics. (pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov) Neuralink claims to have developed a device with 3072 microfine electrodes implanted directly into the brain to direct the translation of specific thoughts or impulses to control prosthetics.

By employing thousands of electrodes precisely placed in parts of the brain, research shows that certain thoughts and impulses can be detected by the Neuralink and transmitted to prosthetics such a robotic hand or legs or to a computer to type and respond to communications. On April 8, 2021, Neurlink released a video of a monkey with two Neuralinks implanted in its brain playing the Atari video game Pong only with its mind—no joystick to control the paddles. (youtube.com) Neuralink offers hope to quadriplegics and victims of neurodegenerative disorders such as Lou Gehrig’s Disease, also known as ALS.

Other companies, such as Synchron, have functional brain-computer interface, or BCI, research programs that compete with Neuralink. In fact, Bloomberg reported on July 18, 2022 that a doctor at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York implanted Synchron’s BCI device in a blood vessel in the brain of an ALS patient, beating Neuralink as the first in human clinical research. (bloomberg.com) The patient who had lost the ability to move or speak can now answer email, surf the web, and make online purchases just using their mind.

The human-computer connection has dramatically transformed over the past decade with almost universal access to smartphones in the US and a growing array of other computer interfaces such as smart speakers and fitness trackers. A growing area of research now seeks to change the interface with computers from outside to inside below the skin, even into the brain. The pervasive use of implanted cardiac pacemakers demonstrates that people will accept below-the-skin human-machine interfaces. Still, research on the brain-computer interface takes us into a new realm of connectivity. Neuralink has demonstrated a monkey controlling a video game with its mind using its implants. Note that before this sounds too incredible, students at the University of Vermont using brainwaves measured outside the skin played Pong with no hands. (sciencevt.edu) Neuralink has yet to gain FDA clearance to test their technology in humans. However, a competitor, Synchron, successfully implanted their BCI in an ALS patient in July 2022, spurring research in a new territory of human-machine interaction.

Dr. Smith’s career in scientific and information research spans the areas of bioinformatics, artificial intelligence, toxicology, and chemistry. He has published a number of peer-reviewed scientific papers. He has worked over the past seventeen years developing advanced analytics, machine learning, and knowledge management tools to enable research and support high-level decision making. Tim completed his Ph.D. in Toxicology at Cornell University and a Bachelor of Science in chemistry from the University of Washington.

You can buy his book on Amazon in paperback and in kindle format here.