Business Insider highlights Gutruf's neural sensors

Philipp Gutruf, associate department head and associate professor of BME, is using tiny devices to understand big ideas. Gutruf recently spoke with Business Insider about wireless brain implants that better understand human behavior to potentially develop new treatments for mental conditions. 

"Right now, we have a reasonable grasp of the rest of the body, but the brain still has mysteries to unravel," Gutruf said. "New tools allow us to see what's going on in the brain in real time, which may allow us to decipher some of these mysteries."

Gutruf and his team have developed a wireless and battery-free implant than connects to the brain to track signals like dopamine and neural activity. Through this, the team can see when and how certain areas of the brain react to stimuli. 

"We created a system that allows us to look at the brain in action while the animal subjects behave naturally," Gutruf said. "This is proving ground for a new type of technology that may lead to human application later."

The Business Insider article is part of the series "5G and Connectivity Playbook," which explores crucial tech inventions.