Technology will save our minds and bodies: Brain-Computer Interface and Lab Grown Body Parts

1. Technology Will Save our Minds
and Bodies
Brain Control Interface & Lab Grown Body Parts
By: Teahan Campbell

2. Presentation Outline
• Brain Computer Interface
– What is BCI?
– How does it work?
– Who Does BCI Benefit?
– How will this technology benefit/change society?
– Video
• Lab Grown Body Parts
– Methods for growing body parts
– Challenges with this technology
– How is Technology going to save us?
– Video
– Works Cited

3. What is BCI?
• Brain Computer Interface, is a
technology that allows a person to
control a computer or other electronic
device with their brain waves; absolutely
no physical movement required.
• Can be used for a variety of different
applications:
– Communication
– Computer Access
– Wheel chair control
– Prosthetic control
• Used to replace permanent motor skills
loss, and for rehabilitation (1.0)

4. Invasive/Non-Invasive BCI
• Invasive: requires surgery to implant
electrodes on/or close to the surface of the
brain.
• Non-invasive: electrodes are placed directly
on the scalp (held in place by a cap) (1.0)
(Image: 2.0)

5. How Does BCI Work?
• Using electrical signals from neurons in
the brain, these signals can be picked up
by sensitive sensors that relay
information to the BCI where it is
recorded, decoded, and turned into a
command to perform a task.
• There are different control centers in the
human brain that control different parts of
the body. Different techniques are used
to detect when certain control centers
are being used.
• These control centers are very important
to the functionality of the BCI (3.0).

6. Who does BCI Benefit?
• BCI benefits those who have lost control of
their motor skills, and ability to speak. Some
examples would be those suffering from:
– Locked-in Syndrome (typically caused by
stroke)
– ALS or Lou Gehrig’s Disease (advanced
stage)
– Severe paralysis from injury
• BCI can also be used as a therapy option for
those that lost some motor skills by coaching
the person to use the correct brain activity
for the given function (4.0).

7. How Will This Technology
Benefit Society?
• “A new study reveals that over 5.5 million Americans, nearly 2 per cent of the
population, are paralyzed or partly paralyzed, mostly by stroke and spinal
injury.” (5.0)
• “Researchers found that 29 per cent of affected Americans became paralyzed or
partly paralyzed after a stroke, and 23 per cent as a result of spinal cord
injuries.” (5.0)
• ALS is said to affect more than 30,000 people in the U.S and 5,000 new cases
are diagnosed every year. ALS is responsible for as many as 5 in 100,000
deaths in people over the age of 20. (6.0).
• It is clear, thousands of people every year may require BCI in order to improve
their quality of life.
• Being able to restore speech so a person can communicate with others is an
amazing tool, and could increase morale for these patients. Restoring motor
function can also give affected persons some sense of independence.
• This technology is already being adapted to be used to control video games for
hands free control. It’s common knowledge that video games are incredibly
popular and the number of users in constantly increasing. Technology such as
this will be the next “must have” gadget! (3.0)

8. Video:
Click movie button: Video Brain Control
Interface (14.0).

9. Lab Grown Body Parts
• Most lab grown body parts (except skin) are
still in the experimental stage, however has
shown great promise in lab testing.
• Some methods are already being used on
humans are:
– Bio-printer
– Stem Cells
– Decellularization
(7.0, 8.0).

10. Brief Explanation of Methods
• Bio-printer: is basically the same 3-D printing technology that we
already know but bio-printing creates human body parts using
bio-ink. Bio-ink is similar to an ink cartridge, however it holds
cells that are required to create a specific body part. The ink
requires a special microgel because, cells are living and require
food, “think gelatin enriched with vitamins, proteins and other
life-sustaining compounds,” (9.0).
• Stem Cells: Body parts can be grown in a lab by using the
patients own stem cells! The process works by taking stem cells
from the patients fat and combining it with a polymer which acts
as a scaffold. Researchers have already created a nose for a
man who lost his in his fight against cancer. They implanted the
nose into the patients skin. His body accepted it, all that is
needed is the approval to transplant, (10.0).
• Decellularization: This process involves removing all the cells
from an organ, leaving only the framework behind. The organ’s
natural structural proteins, including the pathways for tiny blood
vessels and nerves are also all left behind. Doctors have had
success injecting this framework with new cells and are able to
keep them alive for several hours, (8.0).

11. Challenges with this
Technology?
• None of these technologies are ready for the
market yet. They are still in the early stages
of testing, however, scientist are making
great progress and the future looks very
promising!
• Scientist’s have yet to figure out how to get
organs to function correctly, and how to get
decellularized organs to live longer.

12. How is this technology going to
save us?
• Here are some statistics dealing with
organ related deaths:
• “an average of 22 people die each day
waiting for transplants that can't take
place because of the shortage of
donated organs” (11.0).
• “As of May 2015, according to OPTN,
there are 55,282 people between 50 and
64 years old on the national waiting list
and 25,908 people over 65 years old on
the national waiting list” (11.0).

13. Continued
• There are thousands of people in need of organ
transplants and unfortunately the numbers aren’t
decreasing.
• Also, Canada has one of the worst organ donation
statistics, “about 13 donors per million people,
compared with 20 per million in the U.S., and more
than 31 per million in Spain,” (12.0).
• With new technology capable of growing organs
for people in need, organ donation would be
drastically reduced or possibly no longer required.

14. Video
Click for Button for Video: Lab Grown
Body Parts (13.0).

15. Works Cited
1.0) Peters, B., & Fried-Oken, M. (n.d.). Brain-Computer Interface. Retrieved April
17, 2016, from The ALS Association website: http://www.alsa.org/als-
care/resources/publications-videos/factsheets/brain-computer-
interface.html
2.0) Unknown. (2011, December 13). Brain-Computer Interface [Photograph].
Retrieved from http://mmspg.epfl.ch/page-58318-en.html
3.0) University Medical Center Utrecht, & Brain Centre Rudolf Magnus. (n.d.). About
Brain Computer Interface. Retrieved April 17, 2016, from Utrecht
NeuroProsthesis website: http://neuroprosthesis.eu/?page_id=61
4.0) Cohen, A. (n.d.). Brain-Computer Interface. Retrieved April 17, 2016, from
Research and Hope for Stroke website: http://researchandhope.com/brain-
computer-interface/
5.0) Paddock, C. (2009, April 21). Paralysis Affects More Americans Than
Previously Thought. Retrieved April 17, 2016, from Medical News Today
website: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/146819.php

16. Continued
6.0) Johns Hopkins University. (n.d.). ALS - Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis.
Retrieved April 17, 2016, from Johns Hopkins Medicine website:
http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/neurology_neurosurgery/
centers_clinics/als/conditions/als_amyotrophic_lateral_sclerosis.html
7.0) Radford, T. (2016, February 15). 'Bioprinter' creates bespoke lab-grown body
parts for transplant. Retrieved April 17, 2016, from The Guardian website:
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2016/feb/15/bioprinter-creates-
bespoke-lab-grown-body-parts-for-transplant
8.0) News In Health. (2015, February). Fixing Flawed Body Parts. Retrieved April
17, 2016, from News in Health website:
https://newsinhealth.nih.gov/issue/feb2015/feature1
9.0) Harris, W. (2013, December 17). How 3-D Bioprinting Works. Retrieved April
17, 2016, from How Stuff Works Health website:
http://health.howstuffworks.com/medicine/modern-technology/3-d-
bioprinting3.htm

17. Continued
10.0) Weller, C. (2014, April 8). Scientists Use Stem Cells To Grow Body Parts In
Their Lab, Including Noses, Ears, And Tear Ducts. Retrieved April 17,
2016, from Medical Daily website: http://www.medicaldaily.com/
scientists-use-stem-cells-grow-body-parts-their-lab-including-noses-
ears-and-tear-ducts-275122
11.0) U.S Department of Health and Human Services. (n.d.). The Need Is Real:
Data. Retrieved April 17, 2016, from organdonor.gov website:
http://www.organdonor.gov/about/data.html
12.0) The Edmonton Journal. (n.d.). Canada's organ-donation rate among
world's worst. Retrieved April 17, 2016, from National Post website:
http://www.nationalpost.com/story.html?id=0600888f-3f4b-4b8a-
ba4e-68009688da5d

18. Continued
13.0) Koemar, R. (2008, October 6). Regenerative Medicine: Re-Growing Body
Parts [Video file]. Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.comwatch?v=
GwcT1ViM-hw
14.0) National Science Foundation. (2015, June 9). Brain-Computer Interface -
Mysteries of the Brain [Video file]. Retrieved from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7t84lGE5TXA