Brain Fingerprinting Laboratories is moving to Seattle with the expectation of rapid growth.

Brain fingerprinting is designed to determine whether an individual recognizes specific information related to an event or activity by measuring electrical brain wave responses to words, phrases, or pictures presented on a computer screen. The current technology uses a sensor-equipped headband to spot a brain impulse called P300.

Having tested the technology in collaboration with the CIA and FBI, it is now being used to measure whether people recognize evidence of a crime, whether a person has been trained as a terrorist, or even whether advertisements were memorable (neuromarketing).

Neurotechnology continues to drive the neuroethics discussion. Wrye Sententia, director of the Center for Cognitive Liberty and Ethics, said that she is worried that demand is so strong for improved screening of terrorists in airports that brain-scanning technologies could be used against people's will and rushed into the market before being proven accurate.

"We're all for it if people can use it to clear their name of a crime, but it should be a voluntary use," Sententia said. "But what a person knows and thinks is private, and this technology really pushes the question of whether thoughts are private."

If you are interested in hearing the latest on brain fingerprinting make sure you catch BFL's founder talk at the annual convention of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Seattle Feb. 12-16th.