Korean researchers develop world’s first wireless brain signals recorder

A team of South Korean researchers has developed a groundbreaking wireless device capable of recording brain signals, marking a world-first achievement in the relevant research on primates such as monkeys. The innovation is expected to significantly advance research into treatments for hitherto intractable brain disorders, including Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s.

The Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and Technology (DGIST) announced on Tuesday that a research team led by Professor Jang Kyung-in from the Department of Robotics and Mechatronics Engineering, in collaboration with Lee Yeong-jeon, a principal researcher at the Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology, has developed a "fully implantable wireless cerebral neural signal recorder." The device operates without a battery, utilizing wireless power transmission and communication to record real-time brain signals triggered by specific behaviors in primates. The researchers successfully implanted the device in a laboratory monkey's brain and monitored its neural signals continuously for one month.

Conventional neural signal recorders typically rely on batteries or wired connections. Even cutting-edge devices like those from Neuralink, which involve inserting electrodes into the human brain to read thoughts, are battery-powered, necessitating repeated surgical interventions for battery replacement.

The newly developed device overcomes these limitations, offering battery-free operation and freedom of movement through wireless communication. It also incorporates artificial intelligence-based neural signal analysis technology to enhance accuracy, setting a new benchmark in the field.


최지원 기자 jwchoi@donga.com