Micro-implants evolution towards Smart Healthcare as reflected on relevant filed Patent-applications

摘要

Brain implants that deliver electrical pulses tuned to a person's feelings and behaviour are being tested in people for the first time, by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). The work, presented at the Society for Neuroscience (SfN) meeting in Washington DC. could eventually provide a way to treat severe mental illnesses that resist current therapies: however, it also raises ethical concerns, because the technique could give real time access to a person's inner feelings. Using a brain implant to deliver electric pulses that alter neural activity has been successfully employed to treat movement disorders such as Parkinson's disease and it is hoped that constant stimulation of certain brain regions might ease chronic depression. The aim of this paper is to contribute to the discussion about the applicability of emerging CNS-implantable electronic micro-devices, as reflected on numerous retrieved and evaluated relevant Patent Applications and to consider eventually some ethical issues, associated with these emerging Technologies.