Introduction

Abstract

The first chapter will set the stage and quickly explain the context of neuro-technologies, with a pragmatic global viewpoint. For the sake of illustration, some examples will be described, to facilitate access to the fascinating word of the interactions with the brain and the nervous system.

This book focuses on technologies and real-life solutions to treat severe neurological disorders. We will describe the tight relations between science and technology but also the approach we must take to carry projects from concept to human applications. We will quickly review what has been achieved so far in the field of implanted neuro-devices, what is currently done, and what we can anticipate in the future. This chapter points out that neuro-technologies are not science fiction and that hundreds of thousand patients already benefit from active implants to get a better quality of life. As we are entering the age of neuro-technologies, this first chapter will make an introduction to this field full of expectations.