BRAIN-MACHINE INTERFACE (BMI)
Embodiments may provide a general-purpose, relatively inexpensive, AI-driven implant that is able to adapt to and modulate any given region in the brain. For example, in an embodiment, an implant device adapted to be implanted within a body of a person for interacting with brain tissue may comprise a plurality of fibers adapted to receive electrical and optical signals from electrophysiological neural signals of the brain tissue and to transmit electrical and optical signals to provide electrophysiological stimulation of the brain tissue, the fibers electrically and optically coupled to at least one readout integrated circuit.
1 . An implant device adapted to be implanted within a body of a person for interacting with brain tissue comprising:
a plurality of electrically conductive fibers adapted to receive electrical signals from electrophysiological neural signals of the brain tissue and to transmit electrical signals to provide electrophysiological stimulation of the brain tissue, the fibers electrically coupled to at least one readout integrated circuit; and
at least one readout integrated circuit comprising a plurality of cells of circuitry, each cell electrically coupled to at least one fiber, each cell of circuitry comprising:
circuitry adapted to receive the electrical neural signals from the plurality of fibers and to process the electrical neural signals to form digital data representing the neural signals, and
circuitry adapted to transmit electrical neural signals through the plurality of carbon fibers so as to provide electrophysiological stimulation of the brain tissue.
2 . The device of claim 1 , wherein the fibers comprise carbon nanotubes.
3 . The device of claim 2 , further comprising:
a multiplexer, coupled to a plurality of cells of circuitry adapted to receive and process the electrical neural signals, adapted to select at least one of the electrical neural signals from the plurality of fibers; and
an analog-to-digital converter, coupled to the multiplexer, adapted to form digital data representing the electrical neural signals.
4 . The device of claim 3 , wherein the analog-to-digital converter has a resolution of up to 24 bits per sample.
5 . The device of claim 3 , wherein the analog-to-digital converter has a resolution of from 8 bits per sample to 12 bits per sample.
6 . The device of claim 3 , wherein the analog-to-digital converter has a variable resolution of from 8 bits per sample to 12 bits per sample.
7 . The device of claim 3 , further comprising:
a digital-to analog converter, coupled to a multiplexer, adapted to form an analog electrical signal based on digital data representing a stimulation signal; and
a multiplexer, coupled to the circuitry adapted to transmit electrical neural signals, adapted to select at least one of the plurality of fibers to receive the analog electrical signal.
8 . An implant device adapted to be implanted within a body of a person for interacting with brain tissue comprising:
a plurality of optically conductive fibers adapted to receive optical signals from electrophysiological neural signals of the brain tissue and to transmit optical signals to provide electrophysiological stimulation of the brain tissue, the fibers optically coupled to at least one readout integrated circuit; and
at least one readout integrated circuit comprising a plurality of cells of circuitry, each cell electrically coupled to at least one fiber, each cell of circuitry comprising:
circuitry adapted to receive the optical signals from the plurality of fibers and to process the optical signals to form digital data representing the neural signals; and
circuitry adapted to transmit optical signals through the plurality of carbon fibers so as to provide electrophysiological stimulation of the brain tissue.
9 . The device of claim 8 , wherein the fibers comprise optical fibers.
10 . The device of claim 9 , further comprising:
an optical multiplexer, coupled to the circuitry adapted to receive and process the optical signals, adapted to select at least one of the optical signals from the plurality of fibers;
circuitry, coupled to the multiplexer, adapted to convert the optical signals to analog electrical signals; and
an analog-to-digital converter, coupled to the circuitry adapted to convert the optical signals to analog electrical signals, adapted to form digital data representing the analog electrical signals.
11 . The device of claim 10 , further comprising:
circuitry, coupled to a multiplexer, adapted to form an analog electrical signal based on digital data representing a stimulation signal; and
a multiplexer, coupled to the circuitry adapted to transmit the optical signals, adapted to select at least one of the plurality of carbon fibers to receive the optical signal.
12 . An implant device adapted to be implanted within a body of a person for interacting with brain tissue comprising:
a plurality of fibers adapted to receive electrical and optical signals from electrophysiological neural signals of the brain tissue and to transmit electrical and optical signals to provide electrophysiological stimulation of the brain tissue, the fibers electrically and optically coupled to at least one readout integrated circuit.
13 . The device of claim 12 , further comprising:
at least one readout integrated circuit comprising a plurality of cells of circuitry, each cell electrically and optically coupled to at least one fiber.
14 . The device of claim 13 , wherein the fibers comprise optical fibers coated with carbon nanotubes.
15 . The device of claim 14 , wherein the carbon nanotubes are single walled carbon nanotubes.
16 . The device of claim 15 , wherein each cell of the at least one readout integrated circuit comprises:
circuitry adapted to receive the electrical neural signals from the plurality of carbon nanotubes and to process the electrical neural signals to form digital data representing the neural signals;
circuitry adapted to transmit electrical neural signals through the plurality of carbon nanotubes so as to provide electrophysiological stimulation of the brain tissue;
circuitry adapted to receive the optical signals from the plurality of optical fibers and to process the optical signals to form digital data representing the optical signals; and
circuitry adapted to transmit optical signals through the plurality of optical fibers so as to provide electrophysiological stimulation of the brain tissue.
17 . The device of claim 16 , further comprising:
a multiplexer, coupled to the circuitry adapted to receive and process the electrical neural signals, adapted to select at least one of the electrical neural signals from the plurality of carbon fibers; and
an analog-to-digital converter, coupled to the multiplexer, adapted to form digital data representing the electrical neural signals.
18 . The device of claim 16 , further comprising:
an digital-to analog converter, coupled to a multiplexer, adapted to form an analog electrical signal based on digital data representing a stimulation signal; and
a multiplexer, coupled to the circuitry adapted to transmit the electrical neural signals, adapted to select at least one of the plurality of carbon fibers to receive the analog electrical signal.
19 . The device of claim 16 , further comprising:
an optical multiplexer, coupled to the circuitry adapted to receive and process the optical signals, adapted to select at least one of the optical signals from the plurality of fibers;
circuitry, coupled to the multiplexer, adapted to convert the optical signals to analog electrical signals; and
an analog-to-digital converter, coupled to the circuitry adapted to convert the optical signals to analog electrical signals, adapted to form digital data representing the analog electrical signals.
20 . The device of claim 16 , further comprising:
circuitry, coupled to a multiplexer, adapted to form an analog electrical signal based on digital data representing a stimulation signal; and
a multiplexer, coupled to the circuitry adapted to transmit the optical signals, adapted to select at least one of the plurality of carbon fibers to receive the optical signal.
21 . A brain-machine interface device comprising a carbon nanotube based electrode array adapted to provide high-density neural connections that are non-destructive to living neural tissue.
22 . The device of claim 21 , wherein the carbon nanotube based electrodes are integrated with solid-state imager readout circuitry.
23 . The device of claim 22 , wherein the solid-state imager readout circuitry has pixel densities on a micron pitch scale.
24 . The device of claim 23 , wherein the carbon nanotube based electrodes and the solid-state imager readout circuitry are adapted to provide single neuron readout.
25 . The device of claim 23 , wherein the solid-state imager readout circuitry comprises carbon nanotube based electrodes adapted to readout an electrical potential from individual neurons and light-emitting diodes for optical stimulation of individual neurons.
26 . The device of claim 21 , wherein there are greater than ten carbon nanotube based electrodes.
27 . The device of claim 21 , wherein the device comprises:
a micro-channel glass array substrate;
a plurality of carbon nanotube based electrodes attached to a first side of the micro-channel glass array substrate;
a plurality of metal wires formed through channels in the micro-channel glass array substrate, each metal wire in electrical contact with one carbon nanotube based electrode; and
a plurality of metal contacts formed on a second side of the micro-channel glass array substrate, each metal contact in electrical contact with one metal wire.
28 . The device of claim 27 , wherein the micro-channel glass array substrate is about one millimeter in thickness.
29 . The device of claim 21 , wherein the device comprises at least one electrode array having at least ten electrodes with carbon nanotube based electrodes attached to a first side of the device and metal contacts formed on a second side of the device.
30 . The device of claim 18 , wherein the device comprises at least one electrode array having at least ten electrodes with metal contacts formed on both sides of the device.
31 . The device of claim 21 , further comprising a virus vector carried on tips of the carbon nanotube based electrodes.
32 . The device of claim 21 , further comprising a gel encapsulating tips of the carbon nanotube based electrodes, wherein the gel is adapted to be solid at about 25° C. and a liquid at about 37° C.