Biodegradable wireless brain sensors? Way to help treat brain trauma!

Traumatic brain injury is usually a result of a jolt or a violent blow to the head or body. Every year around 50,000 people die in the US due to brain trauma and about 1 million cases are reported in India. A clinically usable pressure sensor comprising of a polylactic-co-glycolic acid membrane suspended in a frame of magnesium and silicon was invented by the neurosurgeons working at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and Murphy and Rogers’s duo, engineers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Neurosurgeons attempt to decrease the pressure inside the skull using medications, in patients with traumatic injuries. They often undergo surgery if the pressure cannot be reduced sufficiently. During such operations, this device could be placed in the brain at multiple locations. Once implanted, this device is absorbed by the body after its time period, which eliminates the need for its surgical removal.

The sensors are accessed remotely by means of wireless connectivity. Advanced wireless brain sensors work on brain-computer interfaces to help severely paralysed people. It measures temperature and intercranial temperatures. It is a fully rechargeable implantable model and it transmits real-time neuron signals. The BCI (Brain Computer Interfaces) system, on which the brain sensors work, acquires, analyses and transmits them into commands. These commands are relayed to an output device. Silicon and magnesium, present in quantities that are recommended parts in the daily diet are present. Hence on their dissolution, there is minimum chance of infection. The implant may trigger an immune response in a patient body which may lead to infections or inflammation. This is a major limitation. This remarkable invention will help in therapy of epilepsy, dementia, Parkinson’s disease, Huntington’s disease, migraine, stroke, traumatic brain injuries and sleep disorders.