WHAT IS ALL THIS EUROTECHNOLOGY?
EUROTECHNOLOGY
Neurotechnology holds boundless potential to improve many aspects of life. It is already being practically applied in the medical and wellness industries, but also has many future implications for other contexts including education, workplace management, national security, and even sports.
Neurotechnology encompasses all components that are developed to understand the brain, visualise its processes and even control, repair or improve its functions. These components can be computers, electrodes, or any other devices that can be set up to intercept electric pulses that run through the body.
In healthcare, neurotechnology is currently being used in brain imaging, by recording magnetic fields produced by electrical activity within the brain, neurostimulation, stimulating the brain and nervous system to influence brain activity; and in neurodevices, an emerging technology that monitors or regulates brain activity using an implant. Neurodevices are still mostly in the research phase, but it holds major potential for treating brain disorders. An example of this is Neuralink. Pioneered by Elon Musk, Neuralink is developing a device that would be embedded into the human brain, where it would record brain activity and transmit this data wirelessly to a computer. Researchers would then be able to analyse these findings and use them to electrically stimulate brain activity. If successful, it can possibly be used to cure brain diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. Neuralink has been tested on animals so far, but Elon Musk has said the company hopes to start implanting its chips in humans in 2022.
Neurotechnology, while therapeutically very exciting, remains very controversial. It raises questions around rights to data and privacy. All-in-all, its future applications are not entirely mapped out but with the continued rise and identification of neurological disorders and conditions, neurotechnology is expected to experience considerable growth in the worldwide healthcare market in the coming years.