Can control limb paralysis by thinking

The US Braingate team has introduced technology to interact between the brain and computer, allowing paralyzed people to control their limbs through thought.

The study of the Case Western Reserve University and Cleveland Functional Stimulation Center (USA) was published in the journal Lancet on March 28, according to Reuters news agency.

The experimental team on the body of Bill Kochevar , 56, paralyzed half of his shoulder eight years ago after a traffic accident. The results were very positive when Kochevar was able to mash potatoes himself and use his hands to eat and drink.

This is a combination of brain sensors and electric muscle stimulation systems. To do this, the team implanted two sensors the size of an aspirin for children into Mr. Kochevar.

Mr. Bill Kochevar controlled the paralyzed arm for 8 years just by thinking - (Photo: Reuters).

Each such sensor contains 96 electrodes used to record signals from the brain. Whenever Kochevar tried to imagine that he was moving his paralyzed arms, these sensors would record signals from the brain and transmit them to a computer.

Since then, the signal will be processed and further transmitted to the electric limb stimulation system of 30 different wires attached to Kochevar's muscles and hands to control them according to their thoughts.

The computer here serves as both a command-and-control place and a tool to help patients learn and identify the process of ordering through simulations on the screen.

Mr. Robert Kirsch - member of the research team - confirmed that thanks to the above simulation, Mr. Kochevar was able to use it easily only in the first day of testing.

However, in many cases it will take some time for the paralysis activities to return to normal.

As Mr. Kochevar, because the muscle bundles have been inactive for a long time, it takes 45 weeks of activity, the new arms are like normal people. Now, Mr. Kochevar is able to hold the straw himself to drink water or scratch the itch on his face.

The National Institutes of Health and the US Department of Veterans Affairs funded Braingate's research. Although this is only an initial test, but according to the research team, perfecting and creating such a system is possible in the future.