Brain-Controlled Prosthesis Types with Only Brain Signals

A brain-controlled prosthesis may be just as good as typing with one finger. Researchers have created a new, thought-controlled prosthesis that can tap into the relevant portions of the brain so that it can issue commands.

People who suffer from injury and disease could greatly benefit from prostheses that can be controlled with the brain alone. In general, brain-controlled prostheses currently work with access to a sample of only a few hundred neurons. However, the prostheses need to estimate motor commands that involve millions of neurons.

In this latest study, the scientists created a technique to make brain-controlled prostheses more precise. In essence, they created a method to analyze the neuron sample and make dozens of corrective adjustments to the estimate of the brain's electrical pattern.

In this case, they tested a brain-controlled cursor mean to operate a virtual keyboard. This device Is intended for people with paralysis and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).

"Brain-controlled prostheses will lead to a substantial improvement in quality of life," said Krishna Shenoy, one of the researchers, in a news release. "The speed and accuracy demonstrated in this prosthesis results from years of basic neuroscience research and from combining these scientific discoveries with the principled design of mathematical control algorithms."

The new technique is based on the understanding of how monkeys naturally perform arm movements. The researchers studied animals and used experiments to look at what electrical patterns in the brain were during a normal reach. In other words, they mapped the brain dynamics.

Now, the researchers have created a prosthetic that works about 90 percent as quickly as a monkey's finger. This could be huge for those who cannot properly move in order to improve their lives.

The findings are published in the journal Nature Communications.

Related Stories

Bionic Eye Helps Man See for the First Time in 10 Years (VIDEO)

For more great science stories and general news, please visit our sister site, Headlines and Global News (HNGN).