Monthly Archives: June 2021

Rachel Shelley, head of medical technologies, IDA Ireland, explains why medtech is well placed to lead in lights-out manufacturing, and how companies in Ireland are being helped towards this.

With the way we work in offices to factory floors having changed so rapidly in the wake of the global pandemic, digitisation is coming to the forefront as a solution to some of the challenges posed by a highly contagious virus. It offers safer, remote working for employees yet also faster, more efficient, agile and intelligent working for companies. So, it is clear to see why Industry 4.0 and smart manufacturing is on the rise, and medtech has great opportunity to lead the way.

Like many areas of digitisation, the speed of transformation pre-pandemic has, for many companies, become much faster since the COVID-19 pandemic began. According to a2020 McKinsey report, as companies reimagine operations for the next normal manufacturers are now reconfiguring their supply chains and their production lines to future-proof processes.

Medtech companies are already making headway, harnessing its benefits of technologies such as robotics, automation, cloud computing, AI, machine learning and advanced enterprise software. Medtech has been an early mover towards automation because of its impact on driving productivity, particularly in a discrete manufacturing environment through better connecting systems and technologies.

For a good example look no further that Stryker, with the largest medtech additive manufacturing centre in the world in Cork. The company announced it is investing more than 200 million at research and development across three of its Cork facilities. The funding is part of the companys drive to develop next-generation products and services across its surgical, orthopaedics and neurotechnology and spine units.

DePuy Synthes is also taking strides in Industry 4.0 with its facility at Ringaskiddy, County Cork, which produces replacement hip and knee joints. This, and a sister Janssen plant in Cork have both been named by the World Economic Forum (WEF) as global lighthouses for embeddinginternet of things (IoT) into modern production.Lighthouses are selected from a survey of global manufacturing sites based on a successful track record of implementing Industry 4.0 technologies.

DePuy Synthes CorkusedIoTtechnology to create digital representations of physical assets leading to advanced machine insights, resulting in lower operating costs and a reduction in machine downtime.Janssens Cork site has digitally connected research and development, its internal and external manufacturing, and deployed advanced process control solutions to drive near real-time visibility of supply chain status. This has improved reliability by 50%, and accelerated technology transfers while reducing costs by 20%.

Data, analytics and intelligence are fundamental to manufacture

Greater intelligence and analytics from automated factories provide insight into machine health and productivity as well as operator issues, leading to more efficient working. Furthermore, when sensors and advanced analytics are combined with wearable devices it is possible to determine how those devices are being used in the real world. This offers enormous potential to improve the supply chain, enhance patient care and deliver on the increased demand for personalised care.

Ireland provides innovative support to boost Industry 4.0 production

When it comes to adopting Industry 4.0, Ireland is giving medtech companies a head start. High profile companies like Stryker and DePuy Synthes have been attracted to Ireland by the talent pool, highly interconnected ecosystem and regulatory regime that supports a thriving Life Sciences industry.

To meet the need for manufacturing companies to embrace and accelerate their adoption of digital technologies, a new national Advanced Manufacturing Centre (AMC) will open in Limerick in early 2022. Funded by the Irish Government, the AMC will help both multinational and indigenous manufacturers to access, try, adopt, deploy and scale smart manufacturing technologies. It will also focus on upskilling for future production skills. Given so many firms are considering the benefits of digitisation and how best to get started, the AMC will focus on helping companies understand where they might implement emerging technologies to transition current manufacturing into smart manufacturing.

Medtech companies have much to gain from digitisation and is well positioned to lead the way in smart manufacture. However, it is access to the right infrastructure, skills and a supportive ecosystem that will drive the industry transformation.

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Why medtech should now lead the way in smart manufacturing - Med-Tech Innovation

How does it feel if we can use our smartphone with our brain? It is more like operating the device without using hands, but with our mind. We are already familiar with Bluetooth and Infrared which makes wireless connectivity possible. Similarly, if the brain is connected to a machine, we can simply operate it with mere thoughts. Sounds amazing?

Brain-Machine Interface (BMI) which is being developed by the Neuralink Corporation of Elon Musk and team is putting forward such a novel concept. During the initial phase, the technology will be implemented in medical sector to be useful for the paralysed individuals. By connecting the brain with machines, the individual can operate it without external help.

As the world has realised the importance of the inclusiveness, more technologies and inventions that benefit physically challenged humans are underway. Instead of treating the paralysed individuals as a separate entity, technology can help them access the world as other people can, or may be in better ways. Neuralink also proposed this idea.

What is Neuralink?

Neuralink is a neurotechnology company that develops implantable brain-machine interface (BMI). It was founded by Elon Musk and a group of scientists. Primarily, BMI is being developed to treat neurological diseases by enabling the individual to regain their sensory and motor functions with the help of technology.

Functioning of Neuralink

Neuralink can be defined as engineering with brain. By linking the neurons in our brain with machines, the users will be able to control it with their brain.

Several micro threads which carries numerous electrodes are implanted into the brain segments which manages the senses and motor skills. The threads are connected to a chip. A Neuralink device called Link that works on a battery is attached outside of the head.

The signals produced in the brain are carried by the threads to the chip and this is passed to the external device via Bluetooth. So, the user will be able to operate it with the brain signals without any external help.

Beneficiaries

Neuralink scientists intend to first implement the technology in medical sector. By implanting BMI, the lives of people affected with neurological diseases like paralysis or spinal cord injuries can be made better.

They can avoid depending others to operate computer or mobile phones and regain sensory and motor skills with the help of technology. Communication is the major challenge faced by paralysed people. With BMI, they can overcome this state to an extent.

Experiments

Musk and team had demonstrated the functioning of Neuralink device last year. They displayed three pigs implanted with Neuralink device and showed how the signals from their brains were carried wirelessly to a computer nearby. Prior to this, Musk and team had exhibitted how Neuralink works with the help of some rats in 2019.

It is learnt that they are planning to start experiments with humans in future. Though Covid outbreak might have affected the project and related experiments, the company is gearing up to test the BMI in humans. It can be expensive and risky, but the technology will be developed further to reduce the chances of failure.

Challenges

Though hailed as groundbreaking invention, the BMI also has some challenges to deal with. One of the key issues is the resistance of body towards external objects.

Once any device are implanted, there are chances of the body rejecting them. Normally, major surgery is required for fixing implants in the body. This increases the risk of the process.

Concerns of safety are not completely resolved and the Neuralink team is trying to develop smaller and affordable technology which does not affect the brain cells but is able to handle more brain data.

The entire world hopes that, in future, Neuralink may succeed to develop an efficient BMI which can overcome the drawbacks and derive positive results. The lives of numerous people who are unable to lead an independent life due to neurological conditions can be changed with Neuralink's BMI.

Reference:https://neuralink.com/

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Neuralink - the groundbreaking initiative of Elon Musk and team - Mathrubhumi English

Kusanagi Motoko, Johnny Mnemonic, Takeshi Kovacs, John Perry, Lenny Nero the practice of melding biological minds with electronics hardware is a cornerstone technology of modern cyberpunk literature. And, if certain medical device startup companies are to be believed, accomplishing similar cybernetic feats from downloadable memories to Whoa, I Know Kung Fu-style instantaneous learning could become reality sooner than we think. However, a number of leading researchers in the study of brain-computer interfaces (BCI), and the encompassing field of neurology, arent quite so bullish on the prospects of an inevitable cybernetic future.

BCIs are, essentially, devices that read the electrochemical firing of the brains myriad synapses, interprets and translates that signal into a digital format that can be understood by computers. Research on the technology began in the 1970s at the Brain Research Institute of University of California at Los Angeles under the watch of pioneering neurologist, Dr. Jacques J. Vidal. It took researchers more than two decades to sufficiently lay the basic technological groundwork needed to progress from animal models but by the mid-1990s the very first BCI prototypes were being installed in human craniums.

People have tried regenerative medicine, stem cells and that's been a really hot area for years, to try to inject biological payloads to repair injury, Dr. Charles Liu, Professor of Clinical Neurological Surgery and Director of the USC Neurorestoration Center, explained to Engadget. But for people with very severe injuries, like the ones that we deal with. We envision a situation where we can essentially create a replacement technology to the natural way that humans do things.

BCIs are generally categorized based on whether they collect electrical information from the inside or the outside of the patients head, with each method having its own unique qualities and characteristics. The skull is a big insulator, Dr. Liu noted. it attenuates all the information. I mean, if the brain wasn't inside the skull, it wouldn't be so mysterious.

For example, in a 2016 study, Dr. Liu coordinated with a team of neurologists from the University of California, Irvine (Zot! Zot! Zot!), led by Dr. An Do, Assistant Professor

Department of Neurology and member of UCIs Brain Computer Interface Lab, to help partially restore a paraplegic mans ability to walk using an external, noninvasive BCI that relied on Electroencephalography (EEG). The patient, 27-year-old Adam Fritz, a Southern California insurance adjuster who had been paralyzed in a 2008 traffic accident, first had to relearn how to walk but only inside his head.

As part of the therapy, Fritz spent countless hours trying to cajole a video game avatar to walk from one side of a computer screen to the other, using only the power of his mind, while an EEG cap monitored and collected his mental output. Those signals, especially after he figured out how to consistently will his character across the screen, were then fed into a signal processing algorithm to translate them into something that a computer could understand. Those commands were then used to control a device affixed below the break in his spinal column which fired electrical impulses into his legs, allowing him to walk the length of a 12-foot course.

At the other end of the invasiveness scale, youve got devices like the almost-fully implantable BrainGate2 system. Installing this BCI requires surgery as a baby aspirin-sized array of micro-electrodes are implanted directly onto the surface of the brain itself. By decoding the collected neuroelectrical signals, patients using the BrainGate system have shown the ability to control on-screen cursors with relative ease.

In a groundbreaking 2012 study, a team of researchers from Brown University implanted 96-pin BrainGates into the motor cortices of two quadriplegic patients, allowing them to control a DLR robotic arm to pick up and serve herself a cup of coffee unassisted for the first time in 15 years (and could still do so five years after the device had initially been implanted). Earlier this year, Brown University researchers made an even more monumental technical advancement they built a system that works wirelessly. The team replaced the conventional Medusas scalp of wires and cables that used to run from the implant site to nearby computer arrays, with a 2-inch long, 1.5 ounce wireless transceiver.

Weve demonstrated that this wireless system is functionally equivalent to the wired systems that have been the gold standard in BCI performance for years, John Simeral, assistant professor of engineering at Brown University and lead author of the study, told Brown University News. The signals are recorded and transmitted with appropriately similar fidelity, which means we can use the same decoding algorithms we used with wired equipment. The only difference is that people no longer need to be physically tethered to our equipment, which opens up new possibilities in terms of how the system can be used.

This advance could for example help accelerate the development of a new generation of mind-controlled prosthetics, like the new bidirectional sensing LUKE hand developed at the University of Michigan. This is the biggest advance in motor control for people with amputations in many years, Paul Cederna, Professor of Plastic Surgery at the U-M Medical School, told UMich News.

Noninvasive BCIs, like the EEG-based skull cap Dr. Dos team used in the 2016 study, are still widely used in research given their convenience and minimal chance of causing complications. However those come at a cost of lower spatial resolution and spectral bandwidth compared to invasive systems that can monitor the activation state of individual neurons. That is, the system is easier to get on and off but it doesnt generally produce as high quality data as a more invasive subdural array would. In a few circumstances, however, that low fidelity data can still be useful and generalizable beyond its primary function.

At an ECG level, because everything is so mushed together and the resolution is so low, Dr. Do explained to Engadget, the algorithm we use to decode, as the person is thinking about moving or not moving, can be used for both upper and lower extremities.

Now, when it comes to the lower extremities and upper extremities within the invasive domain, Dr. Do continued. When we get into the extracellular potentials and single neuron activity, that may not hold true.

Dr. Payam Heydari, a professor at UCI's Henry Samueli School of Engineering, elaborated In the upper extremity, the essence of the algorithm perhaps remains the same but the learning based model is going to change because the rotation, the movements and everything else for upper and lower extremity are going to be different, but the essence is going to be the same.

Dr. Do notes that the added algorithmic and signal processing layers needed to help establish command and control over individual fingers as opposed to toes could preclude some systems built to interpret the signals destined for legs and feet to translate for use with arms and hands.

However, as signal fidelity increases through the use of implanted BCIs capable of recording the activity of single neurons, more generalized sets of actions may be possible, at least for the upper extremities. Those signals contain so much information about intended movement, it should allow intuitive control over complex devices, including multi-dimensional reach and grasp of robotic prosthetic limbs, Dr. Leigh Hochberg, Director of the Center for Neurotechnology and Neurorecovery, Neurocritical Care and Acute Stroke Services, Department of Neurology at Massachusetts General Hospital and Professor of Engineering at Brown University, told Engadget. Those same signals can be used for controlling a computer cursor on screen and, as shown recently, those same signals can be used for decoding intended handwriting.

That flexibility is what we want to harness much like somebody who's able-bodied may, at one moment, use their hand to write with a pen, and the next moment, use their hands to control a computer mouse, and a few moments after that, reach out to pick up a cup of coffee, he continued. Part of the reason to be recording from the brain is to use the signals that allow for flexible control over multiple useful devices.

Despite numerous advances over the past decade, BCI technology still faces significant roadblocks in getting out of the lab and (literally) into the publics consciousness. USCs Dr. Liu points to miniaturization of the electronics, design of a fully implantable device, better signal processing algorithms and creating the bidirectionality in the sensation and control signals, as laudable goals but notes that much of their potential success is predicated on having a sufficiently robust power supply.

The power requirements are critical, he said. If you have something that requires a lot of power, then the person has to carry a battery pack and, if you want to implant it fully, then how big can the battery be? And then if you want to change the battery out periodically, how often do you need to do that? Our goal would be to put in something very small that achieves everything.

This technology can be useful, Dr. Karunesh Ganguly, Associate Professor of Neurology at the UCSF Weill Institute for Neurosciences. But the question of how to make it useful day-to-day for patients is the challenge and... requires customization to an individual's needs.

Ganguly sees future applications for the technology expanding to help stroke patients as well as for severe paralysis. That's probably the one that would make the biggest impact hopefully in the next five or ten years. People who are quadriplegic or paraplegic, upper spinal cord injuries, stroke, ALS, muscular dystrophy and so forth. They're paralyzed, but their brain is intact. That phenotype, I think, has the greatest chance for this version to work.

Regardless of the myriad treatments BCIs could one day be used for, the technology remains in its infancy and exists almost exclusively in research labs. But that hasnt stopped startups like Elon Musks Neuralink company from making a number of fantastic claims about what their devices might someday do from monkeys playing Pong to being able to rewind memories or download them into robots a la Altered Carbon.

Such claims have been met with a range of reactions by the neurology research community, from huffed eye rolls to outright hostility. And as for whether well be able to instantly learn anything, a la The Matrix, well, try not to hold your breath.

The guy is a master of selling things that may never work, Dr. Miguel Nicolelis, pioneering neurologist and Principal Investigator of the Nicolelis Lab at Duke University, recently told Inverse, They will never make people download their emotions or their deep cognitive functions, and theyll never make people learn French by uploading French grammar to a brain-machine interface. You will never reproduce it. For a science fiction movie, that's fine, but for Elon Musk to come out and say exactly the same thing is bogus totally bogus.

[Musk] sells things that have been invented before and he tries to say that hes done some amazing thing, he continued, arguing that much of what Neuralink has touted as advancements is actually old hat for the academic research community.

Dr. Do concedes that we still have a lot of challenges that are necessary to overcome before were downloading languages at will but also points out that private companies and the hefty R&D budgets that they command are able to iterate ideas more quickly and make things happen on a timescale that's way faster than anything happens in academia. So maybe our Kung Fu fighting futures arent that far off after all.

However, the prospect of using BCIs to not only heal injuries back to full functionality but to actively enhance human performance and cognition leads as nearly all cutting edge technologies do to a morass of ethical issues. Who gets access to the technology and when? Will having computers in our heads exacerbate existing societal inequality? How do we keep these machines secure from hacking attempts, and build public trust in a radically new form of biotechnology such as this? These are questions without easy answers but as Dr. Hochberg points out, despite their world-changing potential, BCIs are still just medical devices. Ones which, in the US at least, are subject to massive amounts of testing, validation and oversight by the FDA and other federal regulatory agencies. And just like previous revolutionary technological advancements looking at you implantable pacemakers, deep brain stimulation systems, and vagus nerve stimulators any BCI device that does make it to market, whether it came out of a university lab or Elon Musks latest fever dream, will have been put through its paces.

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What Neuralink and other BCIs can and can't do - Engadget

Existing implants are thinner, more flexible, and more elastic. These properties make the neuroprosthetic devices more suitable to the mechanical properties of brain tissue.

However, these properties also make the implants more fragile and less durable. Also, removing these implants is quite tricky or, lets say, impossible as it generally requires invasive surgery.

EPFL engineers have taken a step towards biodegradable and non-invasive implants. They have developed a neural interface that disappears harmlessly in the body after several months and allows natural tissue to grow back.

Their new generation implants are made of polymers that deteriorate naturally after several months. It can be used in both medium and long-term applications such as monitoring epileptic activity or supporting neurorehabilitation after an injury.

Diego Ghezzi, a professor at EPFLs School of Engineering and holder of the Medtronic Chair in Neuroengineering, said,Our implant eliminates the need for invasive surgery, as it can be implanted in a patients blood vessel.

Adele Fanelli, a Ph.D. student at Ghezzis lab, said,We modeled our implant after stents, which are used to widen arteries and veins. The surgical procedure has become fairly routine, and the recovery time is short.

Because its made out of polymers rather than metal, it tends not to provoke a strong inflammatory reaction.

Ghezzi said,Our research shows its possible to develop minimally invasive neuroprostheses that interact with the surrounding tissue. This opens up new possibilities for applications in neurotechnology and expands the range of patients who can benefit from them.

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Next-generation implants will be non-invasive - Tech Explorist