These challenges could delay brain-computer interfaces from becoming a reality for patients

Brain-computer interfaces can dramatically improve the lives of people with disabilities, but they can also suck up sensitive information about what goes on in a person’s brain. Questions and concerns about how that information might be used could delay the transformative technology from reaching the market, according to a new government report.

These devices, including wearables as well as ones that are implanted, help people with severe disabilities communicate or use robotic limbs. The Government Accountability Office’s report suggests three areas that the field will need to address: protecting implantee’s neural data, providing them with support after implantation, and working with Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to determine coding, coverage, and payment for the devices.

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