A new technology has been developed to enhance the precision of brain-computer interfaces (BCI), which can move robotic arms through thought or stimulate deep brain areas to treat conditions like dementia and Parkinson's disease. This semiconductor chip can simultaneously identify not only when neural cells are active but also the type of cells generating the signals.
The Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) announced that a research team led by Lee Chang-hyuk, a principal researcher at the Institute of Brain Science, has developed the world's first next-generation BCI chip capable of detecting both electrical and optical signals on a single semiconductor chip.
To accurately diagnose and treat brain diseases such as Parkinson's, dementia, and epilepsy, it is essential to understand both the timing of neural activity and the types of cells involved. While electrical signals can indicate when activity occurs, optical signals can differentiate cell types. However, existing technologies have struggled to read both signals simultaneously on one chip.
The research team integrated electrodes that detect electrical signals with optical sensors that read light signals on a single semiconductor chip. They arranged 416 electrodes and 832 light-detecting pixels on 13 silicon needles, each the thickness of a human hair, allowing for simultaneous tracking of which neural cells respond and when.
Unlike the Neuralink approach, which involves inserting only electrodes into the brain while keeping the signal processing chip outside, this new chip is implanted in the brain using a minimally invasive method. It can read the information processing occurring within neural cells through three-dimensional placement of cell-sized sensors inside the brain.
The production costs have also been significantly reduced. The research team combined a universal complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) process, commonly used in smartphones, with 3D printing-based post-processing technology, maintaining performance while lowering production costs to one-hundredth of previous levels. This development also establishes a foundation for producing and enhancing chips using domestic semiconductor foundry and fabless infrastructure, enabling smaller research institutions to create tailored neural probes at relatively low costs.
The research team anticipates that this technology will be utilized for precise diagnoses of Parkinson's disease, dementia, and depression, as well as for developing customized electronic drugs that selectively stimulate specific cells and advanced brain-AI interfaces.
Lee stated, "To achieve precise BCI and treat brain diseases, it is crucial to distinguish which types of cells are active. This new technology presents a novel field of optical semiconductor BCI and lays the groundwork for connecting the strengths of the Korean semiconductor industry to the BCI sector."
* This article has been translated by AI.
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