Neurotechnology uses brain imaging to improve, repair or somehow alter brain function and, ultimately, cognitive or motor capacities in the human. Some advances in basic cognitive neuroscience have helped envisage non-invasive devices which have facilitated the adoption of neurotechnology in a wider range of clinical contexts and have unlocked a vast market for non-clinical home use. This Proof of Concept ERC project has taken important steps to introduce a new concept in this new surge of neurotechnological devices: MNeuronic. At the end of this PoC, MNeuronic is conceived as a component for neurotechnological devices that allows these technologies to work more efficiently in terms of temporal precision and helps free the user of these systems from high voluntary control demands and training. This is because, unlike any extant technology so far, MNeuronic’s decoding/classification algorithms embody a proactive approach that allows prediction of brain states. This has been made possible thanks to important novelties in real-time treatment of the oscillatory brain activity. Thanks to this PoC,
our current non-invasive framework has is moving toward a Technology Readiness Level (TRL7) which will soon allow presentation of the system to potential investors and partner companies. In addition, the developments in the present PoC have allowed a market and business planning that have clearly set the path toward a Bussines to Bussines (B2B) strategy and abandoning the attempt to reach all the way to the final user, which was considered too risky. In addition, such B2B has cleared the range of application of our technology such as cognitive/brain training, assisted learning, BCI control systems (e.g. wheelchairs or spellers), neurocognitive training for rehabilitation, wellness, control of tremor or, neurogaming. Another beneficial output of this PoC has been to set out the path toward protection of the technology under a patent, which is now under study. Finally, we still are developing the initial concept of memory training, which was the proposed use-case scenario at the beginning of the PoC. We have now developed the conditions to start proving this concept, yet most likely this will follow a slower track, which has been now set aside from the principle business strategy developed under this PoC.
