Brain-computer interfaces are still years, and several FDA approvals, away from being available on the market. Even though industry leaders tout their eventual use for the general public, the first users of these technologies have been and will continue to be people with disabilities.
One of the primary uses for BCIs is to provide better communication for people who have been paralyzed. Paralysis affects over 5 million people in the United States, which includes diseases like ALS, in which neurodegeneration complicates communication as the disease progresses.
STAT spoke with Mariska Vansteensel, a neuroscientist at University Medical Centre Utrecht in the Netherlands and president of the international BCI Society, about the field and about a new study that she and her colleagues just published in the New England Journal of Medicine.
This article is exclusive to STAT+ subscribers
Unlock this article — and get additional analysis of the technologies disrupting health care — by subscribing to STAT+.
Already have an account? Log in
Already have an account? Log in
