Quadriplegic drives an artificial arm with the thought – Trade

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, researchers said on Thursday .

Erik Sorto, 34, is “the first person in the world that has a neural prosthesis implanted in a region of brain where generate intentions, “says the 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 for controlling prostheses have already been previously performed, placing the contraption in the motor cortex that controls movement.

This experiment was performed by placing two sets of microelectrodes in the posterior parietal cortex (PPC). This area of ​​ brain planning processes 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 the California Institute of Technology (Caltech).

“Instead, you think about 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 However, instead of dividing in a myriad of components. “

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

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

He could control the prosthesis in his first attempt, nearly two weeks after brain surgery

(Photo: AFP)..

“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 really miss that independence.”

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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

. Source: AFP