On-board brain chips could help stroke and cerebral palsy victims

Cyberkinetics Inc has received U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval to begin a clinical trial in which four-square-millimetre chips will be placed beneath the skulls of paralyzed patients.

The chips could potentially allow patients to control a computer simply by thinking about the commands they want executed.

The procedure could lead to novel improvments in the quality of life of stroke victims, cerebral palsy and Lou Gehrig's disease sufferers.

Tim Surgeno, Cyberkinetics CEO said "A computer is a gateway to everything else these patients would like to do, including motivating your own muscles through electrical stimulation, this is a step in the process."

Dr. John Donoghue, Cyberkinetics founder and a Brown University neuroscientist, attracted controversial attention with his 2002 research on monkeys.

Three rhesus monkeys were given implants, which were first used to record signals from their motor cortex — an area of the brain that controls movement — as they manipulated a joystick with their hands. Those signals were then used to develop a program that enabled one of the monkeys to continue moving a computer cursor with its brain.

The idea is not to stimulate the mind but rather to map neural activity so as to discern when the brain is signalling a desire to make a particular physical movement.

"We're going to say to a paralyzed patient, 'imagine moving your hand six inches to the right,'" Mr. Surgenor said.

Then, he said, researchers will try to identify the brain activity associated with that desire. Some day, that capacity could feed into related devices, such as a robotic arm, that help patients act on that desire.

Comments

The opinions expressed here are the views of the writer and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of News Medical.
Post a new comment
Post

While we only use edited and approved content for Azthena answers, it may on occasions provide incorrect responses. Please confirm any data provided with the related suppliers or authors. We do not provide medical advice, if you search for medical information you must always consult a medical professional before acting on any information provided.

Your questions, but not your email details will be shared with OpenAI and retained for 30 days in accordance with their privacy principles.

Please do not ask questions that use sensitive or confidential information.

Read the full Terms & Conditions.

You might also like...
New blood test could help identify patients at risk for cognitive impairment