BrainPort is a technology whereby sensory information can be sent to one's brain through an electrode array which sits atop the tongue.
It was initially developed by
Paul Bach-y-Rita
Paul Bach-y-Rita (April 4, 1934 – November 20, 2006) was an American neuroscientist whose most notable work was in the field of neuroplasticity. Bach-y-Rita was one of the first to seriously study the idea of neuroplasticity (although it was fi ...
as an aid to people's
sense of balance
The sense of balance or equilibrioception is the perception of balance and spatial orientation. It helps prevent humans and nonhuman animals from falling over when standing or moving. Equilibrioception is the result of a number of sensory syste ...
, particularly of
stroke victims. Bach-y-Rita founded ''Wicab'' in 1998.
It has also been developed for use as a visual aid, demonstrating its ability to allow a blind person to see his or her surroundings in polygonal and pixel form. In this scenario, a camera picks up the image of the surrounding, the information is processed by a chip which converts it into impulses which are sent through an electrode array, via the tongue, to the person's brain. The human brain is able to interpret these impulses as visual signals and they are then redirected to the visual cortex, allowing the person to "see." This is similar in part to how a
cochlear implant
A cochlear implant (CI) is a surgically implanted neuroprosthesis that provides a person who has moderate-to-profound sensorineural hearing loss with sound perception. With the help of therapy, cochlear implants may allow for improved speech unde ...
works, in that it transmits electrical stimuli to a receiving device in the body.
The BrainPort V100 oral electronic vision aid was approved by the
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on June 18, 2015.
See also
*
Sensory substitution Sensory substitution is a change of the characteristics of one sensory modality into stimuli of another sensory modality.
A sensory substitution system consists of three parts: a sensor, a coupling system, and a stimulator. The sensor records stimu ...
*
Neuroplasticity
Neuroplasticity, also known as neural plasticity, or brain plasticity, is the ability of neural networks in the brain to change through growth and reorganization. It is when the brain is rewired to function in some way that differs from how it p ...
References
Blindness equipment
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