EU funds cooperation project to connect brain, body and machine

The collaborative project B-CRATOS ("Wireless Brain-Connect inteRfAce TO machineS") aims to control prostheses or "smart" devices by the power of thought. For this purpose, a battery- and wireless high-speed communication platform is to be integrated in the body to connect the nervous system with signal systems and thus stimulate various functions of, for example, prostheses. The project, coordinated by Sweden's Uppsala University, also involves besides five European partners including universities, companies and institutes, the the German Primate Center (DPZ) to test the new technology in non-human primates. The highly ambitious project, which combines expertise and cutting-edge technologies from the fields of novel wireless communication, neuroscience, bionics, artificial intelligence (AI) and sensor technology, will receive 4.5 million euros in EU funding over the next four years.

What sounds like science fiction could soon become reality. The connection with brain, body and machine is to be achieved by using chip implants in body parts that need to communicate. Hansjörg Scherberger, head of the Department of Neurobiology at DPZ, says "This EU project could really accelerate the communication of technical systems to and from the brain."

The biggest challenge facing researchers will be to develop bidirectional, battery-less and wireless communication technology. This revolutionary signal-bridge technology will impact healthcare, quality of life and human cognition in the future.

Cooperating institutions
German Primate Center GmbH - Leibniz Institute for Primate Research, Uppsala University, SiNANO Institute, Biorobotics Institute of Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna, Blackrock Microsystems Europe GmbH, LINKS Foundation, Norwegian University of Science and Technology.