Forest (neuroimplant)

History

2025: Product Announcement

In mid-January 2025, it became known that the American non-profit organization Forest Neurotech created a Forest 1 chip implanted into the head, which can be used to improve mood. Scientists hope that in the future, the technology will be able to revolutionize the treatment of conditions such as depression, drug addiction, obsessive-compulsive disorder, epilepsy, etc.

The tiny device is placed between the skull and the brain. Unlike other implants, the principle of operation of which is based on the use of electrodes, Forest 1 uses ultrasound. The chip is able to record brain activity in several zones at the same time. The device then generates target pulses to "activate" certain clusters of neurons. Thanks to this, "the restoration of disturbed models of brain activity" occurs, which improves the well-being of a person.

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Фото: theguardian.com

The product will be tested by the National Service. As health care Britain part of a project worth £6.5 million (about $8 million at the rate of January 23, 2025), funded by the Agency for Advanced Research and Inventions of Britain (ARIA), the chip will be implanted in about 30 patients. All of them had part of the skull removed due to injury to reduce the critical increase in pressure in the brain. Thus, the device in these people can be placed without the need for surgery.

After implantation, the chip within two hours will allow the formation of a three-dimensional map of brain activity with a spatial resolution of about 100 times more than is possible with conventional functional magnetic resonance imaging. Further, the device can be used to conduct focused ultrasound stimulation of certain areas of the brain to improve mood.^[1]

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