
Frontiers news
26 Jun 2023
Flexible neural electronics: World Economic Forum emerging technologies report
As a World Economic Forum platform partner, Frontiers is collaborating with the Forum on the 2023 edition of its annual emerging technologies report. Chosen by an international panel of experts, the list of top ten emerging technologies included in the report were selected from nearly 100 contenders based on criteria including novelty, applicability, depth, and power. Credit: Frontiers Flexible neural electronics One of the ten technologies selected by the Forum panel are so-called flexible neural electronics. These allow electrical signals from the brain to be captured by sensor hardware and used to control machines. While neural electronics systems are already in use for treating epilepsy and in some prosthetic devices, traditional probes can cause discomfort and exhibit poor signal accuracy. Researchers have recently developed neural electronics that conform to the brain, reducing scarring and improving accuracy—vastly outperforming traditional hard probes. Flexible neural electronics could deepen our understanding of brain diseases, provide greater control of prosthetics, and boost the development of brain-monitoring devices and brain stents. Angela Wu, of the steering committee for the Forum’s report, stated: “In the realm of neural electronics, the development of flexible, biocompatible circuits represents a significant breakthrough that addresses some of the past challenges of […]













