Thanks to Bluetooth, a computer will be able to receive signals emitted by our heart and brain.

According to Bruno Méndez Ambrosio from the Institute of Cell Physiology (IFC) of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), this is possible because there are devices that allow wireless signals to be linked to the data record. The specialist achieved this project by adapting commercial bluetooth systems, bioelectric sensors (high-sensitivity device for the identification of electrical signals) and a signal amplifier to transfer the data to a computer.

He explained that these devices are usually very expensive, which is why the maximum house of studies created a cheaper version, with the aim that more institutions can provide society with a better service.

“This type of knowledge acquired allows us to use equipment more efficiently and there is a project called Art and the Brain where we were able to synchronize visual art stimulation tasks with 20 recording channels and we have signals with a good signal-to-noise ratio But we are ready to reproduce and have our own electroencephalogram,” he said.

The specialist in designing electronic devices for neuroscience also commented that these developments can be used in other areas such as veterinary medicine or applied in rural areas. It is usually more practical as it eliminates the use of cables and is not invasive.

The electrical signals emitted by the brain, muscles and heart, allow us to know the behavior of this organ. These signals indicate a record of all the activity performed by them and through electromagnetic signals it is possible to identify when they are operating normally or have a fault.

The human brain and body can produce electricity thanks to chemical reactions in cells. The human body is a very complex electrical system.

During the week of Brain, a global campaign that disseminates the benefits of research in neurosciences such as the advances and challenges of research on the human brain organized by the IFC highlighted that measuring bioelectric signals of the human body is not an easy task, which is why electrodes are used to surface contact.

“If the direct electrical activity of a neuron were measured, the response is approximately 100 millivolts, but when it is done via the skin the situation is different. For example, measurements of the heart and muscles when performed superficially record a millivolt, that is, 100 times smaller; while the cerebral ones, which are covered by the skull, are of the order of microvolts,” said Bruno Méndez.

He explained that these advances are very significant for neuroscience because they function as watershed to create new projects. He mentioned that over the years there have been scientists interested in bioelectrical measurement topics such as Luigi Galvani, an Italian physician, physiologist and physicist who observed that when connecting the limbs to a current there was a muscle contraction and who later developed a theory of animal electricity.

To refute his theory, Alessandro Volta, an Italian chemist and physicist, invented the battery we use today. For reflection, the specialist also referred to the Dutch physician and physiologist Willem Einthoven who received the Nobel Prize in Medicine and Physiology in 1924.

“The first electrocardiogram was built by Willem Einthoven, in 1900, who managed to record the electrical activity of the heart, one of the most important advances in the history of cardiology,” said the electronics expert.

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