Quadriplegic drives an artificial arm with the thought – ABC Color

MIAMI. A new type of brain implant can feel the intention of a quadriplegic patient to move its robotic arm, which holds great promise for people with paralysis or limb loss.

Erik Sorto, 34, is “the first person in the world that has a neural prosthesis implanted in a brain region where the intentions are generated,” says study published in the journal Science.

Sorto, who was paralyzed from the neck down at age 21 by a gunshot wound, can now make gestures such as a handshake, drink from a cup and even play “rock, paper, scissors” with its robotic arm.

Other attempts to use brain implants to control the prosthesis already been done previously, putting the contraption in the cerebral cortex motor that controls movement.

This experiment was performed by placing two sets of microelectrodes in the posterior parietal cortex (PPC). This area of ​​the brain processes planning as reaching and grasping movements.

“When you move an arm, not really think that activate muscles and the details of the movement, such as lifting the arm, reach out, reach the glass, close your hand around the glass, and so on, “said lead study author Richard Andersen, a professor of neuroscience at Caltech.

” Instead, one thinks of the goal of the movement . For example: ‘I want to grab this glass of water’. So, in this experiment, we were able to decode these intentions asking the subject to simply imagine the movement as a whole, instead of divided into a myriad of components. “

The result is a more fluid movement the kind of sudden movements that have been seen in previous experiments, the scientists said.

Sorto received his brain implant in 2013 and has been practicing with him in the rehabilitation center Rancho Los Amigos since, for learn to control a robotic arm that is not attached to your body.

He could control the arm in its first attempt about two weeks after brain surgery. “I was surprised how easy it was,” he said. “I joked that I would be able to make my own beer at my pace (…) I think that if it were safe enough, I’d love to take care of myself, shave, brush my teeth. I really miss that independence “.

The clinical trial was conducted in collaboration between Caltech, the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California (USC) and the rehabilitation center.