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INNOVATION FOR INDEPENDENCE
ISSUE 68 August/September 2009 £6.95
Computer cursor trials at US hospital By Dominic Musgrave HUMAN trials of a system which would allow paralysed patients to control a computer cursor with their minds have begun at an American hospital. John Donoghue and Leigh Hochberg from Brown University are leading the research into the BrainGate2 at the Massachusetts General Hospital, which will evaluate how people with a variety of conditions, including spinal cord injury or limb loss, may be able to use brain signals to control assistive devices. Leigh said the purpose of the new trial is to hone the hardware and software that decode the brain signals that are causing the cursor to move on a screen. He added: “We are working to develop and test technologies that we hope will help patients with devastating illnesses that limit their ability to move or to speak. The goal of our research is to harness the brain signals that ordinarily accompany movement and to translate those signals into actions on a computer, like moving a cursor on the screen, or the movement of a robotic or prosthetic limb.” A previous clinical trial run by Cyberkinetics, together with researchers
at the hospital and Brown, demonstrated that the neural signals associated with the intent to move a limb can be “decoded” by a computer in real-time and used to operate external devices. The device, called the BrainGate Neural Interface System, involved a sensor placed on the part of the brain called the motor cortex. During research sessions, a computer was connected to the sensor through a port on the participant’s head, which allowed them to control a computer cursor by simply thinking about the movement of their own paralysed hand. Leigh added: “We learned an incredible amount with the assistance of the first participants in the BrainGate trial, not only about how the motor cortex continues to work after paralysing illness or injury, but also about how to harness these powerful intracortical signals for controlling computers and other assistive devices. “Through ongoing development and testing, it is hoped that these technologies will eventually help to improve the communication, mobility and independence of people with severe paralysis.”
Adventurer Marc Woods is working with UK specialists to help make his prosthetic leg suitable for climbing Mount Everest. Marc wants to climb Everest in 2012 and has been working with Dorset Orthopaedic on adapting his prosthesis to ensure it is up to the demandings of the climb. Full story: Page 13