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Scientists have announced a possible breakthrough for spinal cord injury patients in the form of a tiny brain implant.
Although at the early stages of testing, the implant has proven to be remarkably powerful. It has been tested by Matthew Nagle, a 25-year-old man who sustained a spinal cord injury in 2001 that caused paralysis from the neck down.
Once calibrated, the implant allowed Mr Nagle to manipulate objects by thought alone. For example, he could draw circles on a computer screen, alter the volume on a TV, and play the game Pong after just a few minutes. After further practice, he was able to grasp and move objects with a prosthetic hand.
The implant, called BrainGate, works by connecting with the electrical signals being sent to brain cells in the motor cortex. It intercepts these signals and relays them to a computer that can then control objects.
Although similar feats have been achieved through the use of electrodes attached to the scalp, the implant is much less restrictive and awkward. One concern with this method is that the implant may be rejected by the patient's body after a certain time and until more research has been done into this, it will not be available on the market.
Professor Donoghue, the primary researcher in this study, explained, "The biggest concern is, how quickly does the body attack the device? A five to ten-year timeframe looks doable but we're looking for things that last decades."
The implant is planned to be paired with a system that can stimulate muscle movement and holds much hope for the thousands of people with spinal cord injury.
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