Former Brain-Computer Interface Patient Joins Research Team Shaping Its Next Generation
Summary
German Aldana Zuniga, who received an implanted brain-computer interface in 2018 following a spinal-cord injury that resulted in tetraplegia, joined The Miami Project to Cure Paralysis this summer for a 10-week research fellowship -- the Henry G. Steinbrenner Scholars program -- working in Dr. Matija Milosevic's lab on BCI and neuromodulation research. Rather than testing existing technology, Aldana Zuniga helped the team design a nationwide survey to understand what people with spinal cord injuries actually want from BCI technology -- including desired functions, attitudes toward implanted devices, and everyday barriers to adoption -- before the next generation of studies is designed. The survey has been completed and is now moving through regulatory approvals ahead of national distribution.
Why it matters
Involving an actual BCI recipient in study design, rather than only as a research subject, is a concrete example of patient-informed development in a field that has often been criticized for building technically impressive systems that turn out to be impractical for real daily use.
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