The EE Times Community Weighs in on Brain Implants as it Nears FDA Approval

Conversations That Matter on EE Times

Oct 23, 2013

SAN FRANCISCO, Oct. 23, 2013 /PRNewswire/ --  The first brain implant to listen to brain waves and autonomously decide when to apply a therapy to prevent an epileptic seizure is about to hit the market – maybe -- according to the EE Times article, "Brain Implants Near Milestone,"  Some say today's deep brain implants are in a stage of development similar to cardiac devices in the early 1980s and may be at the precipice of other families of systems addressing a wide variety of neurological disorders.  EE Times' Rick Merritt, author of the article, carried the discussion online debating the issues of security, FDA approval and the benefits of this therapy.

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Re: Hacking devices
selinz   10/20/2013 11:35:40 PM
"Having recently witnessed a grand mal seizure from someone close, I'm happy to see this. At the same time, I think the extended approval period is worthwhile. From what I understand, the current state of anti-seizure drugs are very effective. I'd be curious to know under what circumstances the implants are more or less effective than the state of the art drugs... both are invasive but in different ways."

Great news...
Charles.Desassure   10/20/2013 1:57:00 PM
"This is exciting news after 14 years of hard work.  The first implant to listen to brain waves and autonomously decide when to apply a therapy to prevent an epileptic seizure will indeed improve the life of many people.  I cannot wait to hear more.  Hope there will be a follow-up article with more detail information once it hit[s] the market."

prabhakar_deosthali   10/19/2013 2:17:17 AM
"Everything developed today has the hackers threat looming large on it. So why not make such devices stand alone with a physical key access. Hackers need some connection, some port through which to gain access to a system. But if you make a system such as this implant a stand alone thing then it could remain secure from the hackers and only accessible to the attending doctor or the patient himself."

To read the complete story or to join in the conversation on EETimes.com, see: "Brain Implants Near Milestone"

If you want to contribute to the community conversation on EE Times as a blogger contact Karen Field at karen.field@ubm.com or Susan Rambo at susan.rambo@ubm.com.

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SOURCE EE Times