Ultrasound stimulation activates nerve tissue could it pave the way for wireless bmi

[Orion]

It seems ultrasound can stimulate brain activity

The approach, published in the journal Neuron on June 9, shows that pulsed ultrasound not only stimulates action potentials in intact motor cortex in mice but it also "elicits motor responses comparable to those only previously achieved with implanted electrodes and related techniques," says Yusuf Tufail, the lead author from ASU's School of Life Sciences.-sciencedaily

with millimeter precision

Despite such challenges, the study shows how ultrasound can be used to stimulate brain circuits with millimeter spatial resolution.-sciencedaily

I'm not sure if it's possible but it would seem that it might be possible if precision can be increased and some way to activate multiple areas at the same time is developed to create a wireless brain machine interface.

Or is there some handicap that I'm not seeing? something that would prevent matrix like interfaces from being done wirelessly?

 

[Grall]

http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/File:Neural_scan_interface.jpg

 

[Snyder]

I'm thinking more along the lines of

But jokes aside:
The work shown here is impressive. But the problem with wireless/noninvasive BMI/BCI lies somewhere else. The task of getting stuff in is comparatively easy. The really hard part is getting information out without resorting to huge and energy-devouring machines.

 

[Orion]

I'm thinking more along the lines of

But jokes aside:
The work shown here is impressive. But the problem with wireless/noninvasive BMI/BCI lies somewhere else. The task of getting stuff in is comparatively easy. The really hard part is getting information out without resorting to huge and energy-devouring machines.

Ultrasound can also monitor brain activity by monitoring bloodflow. Not sure on precision but it takes a few 10s of seconds. If it could be made faster and precise it would be promising.