Berlin.
Neurotechnology is making great strides. In medicine, it can be of great help not only for stroke patients.
Almost four decades ago, at the age of 18, Annette Dreher had one stroke. Since then she has been unable to move her right hand. Now Dreher sits in front of the camera and says: “I had to think: Hand, open yourself. And then the hand actually did it. That’s incredible.”
Dreher speaks of an exoskeleton, a device that looks like the metal hand of a . And the white cap she wears on her head. Countless sensors are built into it. You measure turners brainwaves and translate them into a control signal that the robotic hand can access. This means that Annette Dreher can use both hands again, for example to cut cucumbers or to hold a toothbrush with her right hand.
The new possibilities for Annette Dreher are exemplary for the progress of the clinical Neurotechnologie. In this medical field, scientists deal with the question of how reading out and training the brain can improve the treatment of neurological or psychiatric diseases. To do this, they are researching brain-computer interfaces – a way of connecting humans and machines.
New sensors work on the basis of diamonds
“Advances in the development of quantum sensors will allow us to measure brain activity much more precisely than is possible today without the implantation of electrodes is possible,” says Surjo Soekadar. “This also allows us to better break down how clinical symptoms and brain activity are related.” The 45-year-old is head of the Translation and Neurotechnology research department at the Berlin Charité. In 2018 he was appointed Germany’s first professor for clinical neurotechnology.
According to Soekadar, the innovative sensors work on the basis of diamonds. You measure smallest magnetic fields and are not disturbed by the skull bone. They do not have to be anchored in the brain during a dangerous procedure, but can remain on the scalp. In addition, these sensors also function in the earth’s magnetic field and no longer have to be shielded against it in a complex manner. “This gives us the opportunity to bring this technology to a wider application,” says Soekadar.
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so far were human-machine interfaces expensive and complicated. They were not suitable for the majority of patients. “It could be different in the future,” says Soekadar. The psychiatrist hopes to be able to help many patients, in practices, clinics or at home: people like Annette Dreher, who can now use her right hand again after decades.
Great opportunity also in treating depression
“After a month of training with the new system, some of our stroke patients were even able to move their hands and fingers again without an exoskeleton,” says Soekadar. The activation of the nerve cells led to a reorganization of the brain guided. According to the expert, this is a great opportunity not only for the treatment of the late effects of a stroke, but also for the treatment of psychiatric diseases.
In the clinic for psychiatry and psychotherapy of the Berlin Charité, but also in other university clinics in Germany, these findings are already being implemented in therapies. In the treatment of depressions, or auditory hallucinations for example. During what is known as repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS), a magnetic field is built up over the patient’s head for a few hundred microseconds. In a three to nine minute treatment, 600 to 1800 magnetic impulses can be delivered to the brain.
“Brain activity changes as a result of the repeated stimulation,” says Soekadar. “We can’t cure depression, but we can symptoms If the procedure is used intensively, eight out of ten patients felt an improvement just a few days after the start of treatment. rTMS is used to accompany drug therapy and psychotherapy. It is already covered by health insurance for hospital patients, but not yet for outpatient use.
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At the same time, Surjo Soekadar and his team are continuing their research. In the future, they want to measure brain activities even more precisely and in real time so that they can also be influenced in real time. “There are many conceivable areas of application for brain-computer interfaces in medicine,” says Soekadar. For the treatment of ADHD for example and maybe also of addictions. In addition, they could help to solve one or two mysteries of the brain with its billions of nerve cells and many messenger substances. Soekadar: “We already know a lot about the brain, but we still don’t understand much.”
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