High-bandwidth neural interfacing using visible light communication

缺乏对大脑回路的了解，限制了疾病治疗的发展。自20世纪70年代以来，就没有从根本上说是一类治疗精神疾病的药物，这一事实突显了这一点。应对这一挑战的技术现在已经达到了成熟的水平。尽管最近在大脑接口方面进行了投资，但还没有技术可以在所需的带宽上无线传输神经数据。我们的轻量级、高数据速率、无线方法能够传输超过1000倍的神经信息。这可能会通过大规模观察跨大脑结构的药物相互作用来彻底改变制药方法。此外，神经科学最近的重大进展激起了几家大公司的兴趣，这些公司正在投入大量资源，为各种目的创造高带宽神经接口。谷歌、Facebook和微软等网络巨头正在密切关注这些新技术。Facebook大力参与了“大脑打字”作为无声语音接口的项目，最近向BlackRock MicroSystems投资了1000万美元，而微软正在发布“精神控制”专利，允许用户在没有手势的情况下用大脑操作应用程序**(Yole Development)**。目前这一领域的研究主要集中在鼠标模型上。该领域的一个关键障碍是缺乏能够满足无线高数据速率传输的小型低功率设备。NeuroVLC将为此提供解决方案。

The lack of a circuit understanding of our brains is limiting development of treatments for disorders. This is underlined by the fact that there has not been a fundamentally new class of drugs for psychiatric disorders since the 1970s. Technology is now at a level of sophistication to address this challenge. Despite recent investments in brain interfacing, no technology exists to wirelessly transmit neural data at the required bandwidths. Our lightweight, high data rate, wireless approach is capable of transmitting over a 1000 times more neural information. This could revolutionize pharmaceutical approaches by observing drug interactions across brain structures at scale.Furthermore, the recent significant advances in neuroscience have piqued the interest of several large corporations who are investing substantial resources into creating high-bandwidth neural interfaces for various purposes. Web giants, such as Google, Facebook and Microsoft are tracking these new technologies carefully. Facebook is strongly involved in project of "typing-by-brain" as a silent speech interface and has recently invested $10 million in Blackrock Microsystems, while Microsoft is publishing patents on "mind control" that allow users to operate apps using their mind without gesture **(Yole Development)**.Research at the moment in this area predominantly focuses on the mouse model. A key barrier in the field is the lack of small low power devices that can satisfy wireless high data rate transmissions. NeuroVLC will provide the solution to this.