- Neuroscientists aim to map brain activity to behaviors for brain–machine interfaces (BMIs), which interpret neural signals to control external devices like robotic arms for paralyzed individuals.
- A key limitation is that current BMIs require invasive brain surgery, but Caltech researchers developed a minimally invasive BMI using functional ultrasound (fUS) technology.
- fUS measures brain activity with high resolution (100 micrometers) by detecting changes in blood flow, allowing decoding of movement intentions without damaging brain tissue.
- The technology was tested on non-human primates, accurately predicting planned movements (e.g., eye or arm direction) using machine learning algorithms trained on fUS data.