8/4/2019 Brain-Computer Implant Has Passed 1000-Day Milestone

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MAD NEUROSCIENCE ConfirmLike

Brain-computer implant has passed 1000-day milestoneHelen Thomson - New Scientist — A 

paralysed woman was still able to control a

computer cursor with her thoughts 1000 days

after having a tiny electronic device

implanted in her brain, say researchers who

devised the system. The achievement

demonstrates the longevity of brain-machine

implants.

The woman, for whom the researchers use

the pseudonym S3, had a brainstem stroke in

the mid-1990s that caused tetraplegia -

paralysis of all four limbs and the vocal cords.

In 2005, researchers from Brown University 

in Providence, Rhode Island, the Providence

VA Medical Center and Massachusetts

General Hospital in Boston implanted a tiny 

silicon electrode array the size of a small

aspirin into S3's brain to help her

communicate better with the outside world.

Top image: 2006 Matthew McKee.

The electrode array is part of the team's

BrainGate system, which includes a

combination of hardware and software that

directly senses the electrical signals produced

by neurons in the brain which control the

planning of movement.

The electrode decodes these signals to allow people with paralysis to control external

devices such as computers, wheelchairs and bionic limbs.

In a study just published, the researchers say that in 2008 - 1000 days after implantation -

S3 proved the durability of the device by performing two different "point-and-click" tasks

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by thinking about moving a cursor with her hand.

Her first task was to move a cursor on a computer screen to targets arranged in a circle and

select each one in turn. The second required her to follow and click on a target as it moved

around the screen in varying sizes.

Leigh Hochberg, visiting associate professor of neurology at Harvard Medical School and

director of the BrainGate trial, told the website Medical News Today :

This proof of concept - that after 1000 days a woman who has no functional use of 

her limbs and is unable to speak can reliably control a cursor on a computer

screen using only the intended movement of her hand - is an important step for

the field

However, the device did not perform perfectly - fewer electrodes were recording useful

neural signals than they did when tested six months after implantation.

The researchers say there is no evidence of any fundamental incompatibility between the

sensor and the brain. Instead, they believe the decreased signal quality over time can

largely be attributed to engineering issues. Ongoing research means these issues are now less of a problem than they were when S3 received her implant.

Speaking with Brown University's news service, lead author John Simeral, assistant

professor of engineering at Brown, said that they would like to further improve the

sensitivity of the device:

Our objective with the neural interface is to reach the level of performance of a

person without a disability using a mouse

Hochberg says that S3's implant is still working and she is still participating in trials.

This post by Helen Thomson originally appeared in New Scientist.

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Mon 28 Mar 2011 8:20 AM 

Good news everyone!

ManchuCandidate

Mon 28 Mar 2011 8:30 AM 

Eh, what? Who are you? Why does my foot hurt?

Pope John Peeps II  @ManchuCandidate

Mon 28 Mar 2011 11:29 AM ziplizard  @ManchuCandidate

See 3 more replies by GR1M RACER, elleesttrois, hilikusopus