Thursday, July 13, 2006

Paralyzed man moves computer cursor through thought

By Patricia Reaney Wed Jul 12, 1:46 PM ET

LONDON (Reuters) - A Paralyzed man using a new brain sensor has been able to move a computer cursor, open e-mail and control a robotic device simply by thinking about doing it, a team of scientists said on Wednesday.

They believe the BrainGate sensor, which involves implanting electrodes in the brain, could offer new hope to people Paralyzed by injuries or illnesses.

"This is the first step in an ongoing clinical trial of a device that is encouraging for its potential to help people with paralysis," Dr Leigh Hochberg, of Massachusetts General Hospital, said in an interview.

The 25-year-old man who suffered paralysis of all four limbs three years earlier completed tasks such moving a cursor on a screen and controlling a robotic arm.

He is the first of four patients with spinal cord injuries, muscular dystrophy, stroke or motor neurone disease testing the brain-to-movement system developed by Cyberkinetics Neurotechnology Systems Inc in Massachusetts.

"This is the dawn of major neurotechnology where the ability to take signals out of the brain has taken a big step forward. We have the ability to put signals into the brain but getting signals out is a real challenge. I think this represents a landmark event," said Professor John Donoghue of Brown University in Rhode Island and the chief scientific officer of Cyberkinetics.

The scientists implanted a tiny silicon chip with 100 electrodes into an area of the brain responsible for movement. The activity of the cells was recorded and sent to a computer which translated the commands and enabled the patient to move and control the external device.

"This part of the brain, the motor cortex, which usually sends its signals down the spinal cord and out to the limbs to control movement, can still be used by this participant to control an external device, even after years had gone by since his spinal cord injury," added Hochberg, a co-author of the study published in the journal Nature.

Although it is not the first time brain activity has been used to control a cursor, Stephen Scott of Queen's University in Ontario, Canada said it advances the technology.

"This research suggests that implanted prosthetics are a viable approach for assisting severely impaired individuals to communicate and interact with the environment," he said in a commentary in the journal.

In a separate study, researchers from Stanford University Schools of Medicine and Engineering described a faster way to process signals from the brain to control a computer or prosthetic device.

"Our research is starting to show that, from a performance perspective, this type of prosthetic system is clinically viable," Stephen Ryu, an assistant professor of neurosurgery at Stanford, said in a statement.

Source: AP via Yahoo! News
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/science_brain_dc...

Posted by at

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

QUADRIPLEGIA – TETRAPLEGIA: Paralysis of all four limbs

PARAPLEGIA: Paralysis below the waist, including both legs

Are You Looking For Help?

What if you could walk again in as little as 6 to 12 weeks, no matter how many years your injuries go back?

99, 9 % of paralyzed people can walk again, and don’t even realize it.

Many paralyzed patients can see and feel significant improvement in a short period of time but they are unaware that this improvement is possible.



What is Spinal Cord Injury?

Spinal cord injury usually begins with a sudden, traumatic blow to the spine which fractures or dislocates vertebrae. This damage begins at the moment of injury when displaced bone fragments, disc material, or ligaments bruise or tear into the spinal cord tissue. Most injuries to the spinal cord don't completely sever it. Instead, an injury is more likely to cause fractures and compression of the vertebrae, which then crush and destroy the axons, extensions of nerve cells that carry signals up and down the spinal cord between the brain and the rest of the body. Injury to the spinal cord can damage a one, few or almost all of these axons.



You have had an accident and as a consequence of Spinal Cord-Vertebrae Injury or Brain injury you were paralyzed – you are unable to feel your body from the chest down? Have you asked help from physicians or therapists? You were told by them that you should get accustomed to live in that health condition you have and there is no help for you with it. Do not surrender! In spite of that what you are told there is a help for you.

GUARANTEED POSITIVE QUICK RESULTS IN YOUR FIRST TREATMENT OR NO CHARGE!



Sincerely,

Raif Emini, Herbal Therapist - Toronto, ON. - Canada

Tel.: (001) 416 913-1967

www.Mjekimi.com

E-mail: herbaltherapist@sympatico.ca

herbaltherapist@hotmail.com

April 09, 2007 7:56 PM

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)