Researchers in South Korea have developed a wireless brain implant that can be controlled remotely over the internet. In a test, commands sent from Chicago reached an implant in Daejeon, South Korea, more than 10,596 kilometers away, with an average response time of about 109 milliseconds.
The system, called RAPIDO, was developed by KAIST and Yonsei University. It is designed for brain research in freely moving animals and can deliver drugs or provide targeted light stimulation without requiring researchers to repeatedly handle the animals.
The researchers demonstrated that RAPIDO could receive commands from another country and activate functions inside a rat’s brain. The test showed that researchers could remotely control the implant through an internet-connected computer.
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The long-distance test was mainly an engineering demonstration. It showed that the implant could be operated remotely, rather than proving that the system is ready for medical use.
KAIST and Yonsei University developed the RAPIDO brain implant. The research was led by Jae-Woong Jeong, an electrical engineer at KAIST, and was published in Science Advances.
The team designed RAPIDO to combine drug delivery and optical stimulation in a small wireless device. The implant is compact enough for use in freely moving rats.
Brain experiments often require researchers to enter the experimental area or handle animals to operate equipment. Their presence can sometimes influence animal behavior and affect the results of an experiment.
A remotely controlled implant could reduce this interference. It could also allow researchers in different countries to take part in the same experiment without being physically present in the laboratory.
RAPIDO contains a refillable drug cartridge and a miniature LED. Researchers can program the system to release controlled amounts of a substance or deliver light to a specific area of the brain.
Commands can be sent through the internet to a computer in the laboratory. That computer then communicates wirelessly with the implant, allowing researchers to activate the selected function remotely.
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The researchers tested RAPIDO’s drug-delivery function by delivering different amounts of cocaine into the nucleus accumbens of rats. This brain region is involved in reward-related behavior.
The different doses produced corresponding changes in the rats’ movement. The researchers were able to reproduce these effects two, three, and four weeks after implantation, showing that the system could deliver repeated doses over time.
The team also tested RAPIDO’s optical stimulation function using optogenetics. This technique uses light to control specific biological processes in the brain.
In one experiment, light from the implant activated the RhoA signaling pathway during conditioning. Rats receiving this light treatment did not develop the same preference for the area associated with cocaine as rats in the comparison group.
The experiments do not show that RAPIDO can treat cocaine addiction. The tests were conducted in rats and were designed to study how specific brain interventions affect behavior.
The researchers also say that long-term safety and reliability would need to be demonstrated before similar technology could be considered for human use.
A human brain implant would require extensive testing for safety, biocompatibility, packaging, drug delivery, and fail-safe systems. Optogenetic applications would also require safe delivery of genes that make targeted brain cells respond to light.
For now, RAPIDO is best viewed as a research platform. More testing is needed before the technology could become a clinical device.
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RAPIDO combines several capabilities in one wireless implant: programmable drug delivery, targeted light stimulation, repeated operation, and remote internet-based control.
The ability to operate such an implant from another country could make long-term brain studies easier to conduct and reduce the effect of researchers’ physical presence on animal behavior. The technology could also help scientists study how specific changes in the brain influence behavior over longer periods.
