This new electrode is a big deal for brain-computer interfaces. Here’s why.

You might have seen interfaces controlling prosthetic limbs or converting brain waves into speech. Thing is, it’s pretty challenging to get these electrodes into people’s brains. Scientists typically use larger grids of electrodes, but that means removing at least an equal area of the skull through an invasive procedure called a craniotomy.

This new electrode design can be inserted through a much smaller hole, then expands inside your skull. Scientists are hoping this will help make it much safer to implant electrodes and use them to perform speech recognition, treat neurological disorders like epilepsy, assess brain injuries, or more.

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