Florian Solzbacher1
Univ of Utah1
Implantable Brain-Computer Interfaces appear to be heading towards an inflection point: In the past decade the number and frequency of major technological advances and first in human demonstrations of new capabilities have started increasing significantly. Many technical and scientific hurdles have been overcome or at least addressed. The first generations of commercially available products appear to be imminent. They have the potential to become tangible tools to restore lost function and are serious contenders to address a variety of neurological disorders. Much of this has been enabled by breakthroughs in encapsulation approaches leveraging thin film and wafer level approaches for even complex implantable systems. The real-life settings associated with in-home use of these technologies lead to reprioritization of existing--as well as the emergence of novel--practical and fundamental challenges and opportunities. How do we identify and prioritize user, clinician and caretaker needs? What is possible today and what is a realistic technological roadmap that meets those needs?