Neural Interface Enables Quadriplegic to Perform Simple Tasks

A new study shows how the brain signals of a quadriplegic patient with spinal cord injury have been harnessed to enable the patient to shift a cursor on a computer screen and perform simple tasks.

Researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital (Boston, USA) have successfully utilized a new device called the BrainGate neural interface system to aid a 25-year-old quadriplegic patient who suffered a knife wound in 2001 that cut his spinal cord at the neck. Using signals picked up by a sensor implanted in his brain that were then translated into electronic impulses, the patient was able to control a computer cursor to manipulate mechanical devices.

The patient underwent 57 sessions over nine months, during which time the implanted BrainGate sensor recorded activity in his motor cortex while the man imagined moving his paralyzed limbs. He then used that imagined motion in several computer-based tasks. Within little learning time, the patient began to be able to move a computer cursor via the BrainGate to open simulated e-mail, draw circular shapes, and play simple video games. He also was able to open and close a prosthetic hand and use a robotic limb to grasp and move objects. The findings were reported in the July 13, 2006, issue of Nature.

According to the researchers, the results suggest that the signals in the motor cortex are not only existent and remain active, but that they can be modulated voluntarily to perform actions that are similar to what those cells were doing before.

"One of the most exciting findings is that one part of the brain--the motor cortex that usually sends its signals down through the spinal cord to control movement--can still be used by this patient to control an external device, even after the spinal cord injury,” said lead researcher neurologist Dr. Leigh Hochberg.

The BrainGate system, developed by Cyberkinetics Neurotechnology Systems (Foxborough, MA, USA), is currently the subject of a clinical trial being conducted under an investigational device exemption (IDE) from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).



Related Links:
Massachusetts General Hospital
Cyberkinetics Neurotechnology Systems