According to Tianjin University, this is “the world’s first open-source brain-on-a-chip intelligent complex information interaction system” and could lead to the development of brain-like computing.
“[This] “This is a technology that combines an in vitro-cultured ‘brain’, such as a cerebral organoid, with an electrode chip to form a ‘brain-on-a-chip’ to encode and decode stimulation feedback,” Ming Dong, vice president of Tianjin University, told the state-run Science and Technology Daily on Tuesday.
BCI technology has attracted widespread attention thanks to the Elon Musk-backed Neuralink, an implantable interface designed to allow patients to control devices using only their thoughts.
Tianjin University now says its research could lead to the development of hybrid human-robot intelligence.
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Inside a Chinese factory that makes humanoid robots with enhanced facial movements
Inside a Chinese factory that makes humanoid robots with enhanced facial movements
Brain organoids are made from human pluripotent stem cells, normally found only in early embryos, which can develop into many different types of tissue, including neural tissue.
When the cells were transplanted into the brain, they could establish functional connections with the host brain, the Tianjin University team wrote in an unedited manuscript published last month in the peer-reviewed journal Brain, published by Oxford University Press.
“Transplantation of human cerebral organoids into living brains represents a novel approach to promote organoid development and function; organoid grafts possess a functional host-derived vasculature and exhibit a high degree of maturity,” the team wrote.
Li Xiaohong, a professor at Tianjin University, told Science and Technology Daily that while brain organoids are considered the most promising model of basic intelligence, the technology still faces “bottlenecks such as low developmental maturity and insufficient nutritional supply”.
In their paper, the team says they have developed a technique that uses low-intensity ultrasound, which they say could help organoids better integrate and grow in the brain.
The team found that treating the grafts with low-intensity ultrasound improved the differentiation of the organoid cells into neurons, helping to improve the networks they form with the host brain.
The technique may also lead to the development of new therapies to treat neurodevelopmental disorders and repair damage to the cerebral cortex, the paper says.
“Brain organoid transplantation is considered a promising strategy to restore brain function by replacing lost neurons and reconstructing neural circuits,” the research team wrote.
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Biorobots made from human cells are expected to have medical applications
Biorobots made from human cells are expected to have medical applications
In tests using a mouse model of microcephaly, a neurodevelopmental disorder that results in reduced brain and head size, the research team found that applying low-intensity ultrasound to transplanted brain organoids could reverse neuropathological defects.
The university also said the team’s use of non-invasive, low-intensity ultrasound treatment could help neural networks form and mature, potentially providing a better foundation for computing.
