Challenges and Suggestions of Ethical Review on Clinical Research Involving Brain-Computer Interfaces

Brain-computer interface(BCI)technology is rapidly advancing in medical research and application.As an emerging biomedical engineering technology,it has garnered significant attention in the clinical research of brain disease diagnosis and treatment,neurological rehabilitation,and mental health.However,BCI also raises several challenges and ethical concerns in clinical research.In this article,the authors investigate and discuss three aspects of BCI in medicine and healthcare:the state of international ethical governance,multidimensional ethical challenges pertaining to BCI in clinical research,and suggestive concerns for ethical review.Despite the great potential of frontier BCI research and development in the field of medical care,the ethical challenges induced by itself and the complexities of clinical research and brain function have put forward new special fields for ethics in BCI.To ensure"responsible innovation"in BCI research in healthcare and medicine,the creation of an ethical global governance framework and system,along with special guidelines for cutting-edge BCI research in medicine,is suggested.

Cross-sectional survey following a longitudinal study on mental health and insomnia of people with sporadic COVID-19

BACKGROUNDIn the post-pandemic era, the emergence of sporadic cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and the scale of the pandemic are unpredictable. Therefore, the impact ofsporadic cases of COVID-19 and isolation measures on mental health and sleep in different groupsof people need to be analyzed.AIMTo clarify the severity of psychological problems and insomnia of staff and community residentsaround a hospital with sporadic cases of COVID-19, and their relationship with quarantinelocation and long-term changes.METHODSA cross-sectional survey was conducted on community residents and medical staff. Many of thesemedical staff had been subjected to different places of quarantine. Community residents did notexperience quarantine. Hospital anxiety and depression scale (HADS), acute stress disorder scale(ASDS) and insomnia severity index (ISI) were used to evaluate anxiety and depression, acutestress disorder symptoms, and the severity of insomnia. Additionally, we conducted a 1-yearfollow-up study on medical staff, with related scales measurement immediately after and one yearafter the 2-wk quarantine period.RESULTSWe included 406 medical staff and 226 community residents. The total scores of ISI and subscale inHADS of community residents were significantly higher than that of medical staff. Furtheranalysis of medical staff who experienced quarantine showed that 134 were quarantined in hotels,70 in hospitals and 48 at home. Among all subjects, the proportions of HADS, ASDS and ISI scoresabove normal cutoff value were 51.94%, 19.17% and 31.11%, respectively. Multivariable logisticregression analysis found that subjects with higher total ASDS scores had a greater risk to developanxiety and depression. The total ISI score for medical staff in hotel quarantine was significantlyhigher than those in home quarantine. Total 199 doctors and nurses who completed the 1-yearfollow-up study. Compared with baseline, HADS and ASDS scores decreased significantly oneyear after the end of quarantine, while ISI scores did not change significantly.CONCLUSIONSporadic COVID-19 cases had a greater psychological impact on residents in surroundingcommunities, mainly manifested as insomnia and depressive symptoms. Hotel quarantineaggravated the severity of insomnia in medical staff, whose symptoms lasted ≥ 1 year.