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It looks like a simple video game, but an innovative new system could one day restore physical control over the lives of paralyzed people.
Neurosurgeons at Stanford and Brown University implanted microelectrodes in the brain of a paralyzed research participant, connecting him to a computer to enable electrical signal transmission. The test subject, via microelectrodes, was able to pilot a virtual drone through a video game-like obstacle course using only his thoughts. This achievement as detailed on 20 January Study Published in Journal Nature’s medicineThis has important implications for enabling paralyzed individuals to enjoy activities previously accessible to them and perhaps one day regain autonomous movement.
“We have developed a high-performance, finger-based brain-computer-interface system that allows continuous control of three [virtual] “Independent finger groups in which the thumb can be controlled in two dimensions, providing a total of four degrees of freedom,” the researchers wrote in the study. Although scientists have used brain-computer technology to help people with paralysis for more than a decade, it has historically been like fingers. Challenges are encountered in replicating complex movements. the nature statement
The study participant was a 69-year-old right-handed man who suffered a spinal cord injury that left him with tetraplegia, an extreme form of paralysis that affects most of the body. As detailed in the new paper, microelectrodes were implanted in his left precentral gyrus, the part of the brain that controls hand movements. Neurosurgeons ask participants to watch a virtual hand move, and then use artificial intelligence to detect the electrical brain activity associated with specific finger movements.
This association then allows the AI system to predict the desired finger movement, even though the participant cannot move their own fingers. The brain-computer interface thus enables him to control the movements of a virtual hand using his thoughts. The virtual hand was divided into three parts, which he could move vertically and horizontally, sometimes simultaneously: the thumb, index and middle fingers, and the ring and pinky.
“This is a greater degree of effectiveness than anything previously based on finger movements,” said Matthew Wilsey of Stanford University, who led the study and is an assistant professor at the University of Michigan (UM), Ann Arbor, a UM. statement. With practice, participants were able to use this brain-computer interface to control the movement and speed of a virtual drone on a simulated obstacle course, similar to how people without paralysis use game controllers to play video games.
The interface “receives signals generated in the motor cortex [in the brain] This happens when the participant tries to move their fingers and uses an artificial neural network to interpret what the intention is to control the virtual fingers in the simulation,” Wilsey added. “Then we send a signal to control a virtual quadcopter [drone]”
Stanford University’s Donald T. “The quadcopter simulation was not an arbitrary choice,” says Avancino, because “the research participant had a passion for flying.” “While fulfilling the participant’s desire for flight, the platform also features multiple finger controls.”
Microelectrodes in the participant’s brain are physically connected to a computer. Less invasive approaches, including electroencephalography (EEG, a painless technique that measures electrical brain activity without the need for surgery), have previously enabled paralysis patients to play video games. However, according to the UM statement, the researchers suggest that fine motor control can be better achieved by working more closely with neurons. In fact, they noted in the study that their brain-computer interface enabled participants to control the drone six times more accurately. A similar previous study that used EEG.
While the ability to play a video game enables paralyzed patients to engage in socialization and leisure activities, precise dexterous control has greater potential.
“By being able to move multiple virtual fingers with brain control, you can have multi-factor control schemes for all kinds of things,” explained Stanford University’s Jamie M. Henderson, who participated in the study. “This can mean anything from operating CAD software to composing music.” In other words, such technology can enable patients to pursue greater activities and even careers that were previously impossible for them.
when Star Wars‘ Characters use “powers” to control objects at a distance, scientists are using technological advances to help paralysis patients regain control over their lives.
