A brain-computer interface has allowed a 23-year-old quadriplegic man to move his hands again.
Unlike previous technologies, the system, called Neurobridge, does not use robotic arms. Instead, the man’s hands respond directly to his thoughts. A computer chip implant in his brain and an electrical sleeve work as a “neural bypass” for patient Ian Burkhart, whose damaged spinal cord can no longer transfer messages from his brain to his extremities.
Creating a brain chip that sifts through the brain’s electrical signals and identifies those that correspond to certain movements is no easy task, according to the researchers who developed the software. According to Burkhart, neither is learning to use it. Read the full story here.