Paralysed woman’s thoughts control robotic arm

Jan Scheuermann

Unrivalled control of a robotic arm has been achieved using a paralysed woman’s thoughts, a US study says.

Jan Scheuermann, who is 53 and paralysed from the neck down, was able to deftly grasp and move a variety of objects just like a normal arm.

Brain implants were used to control the robotic arm, in the study reported in theĀ Lancet medical journal.

Experts in the field said it was an “unprecedented performance” and a “remarkable achievement”.

Jan was diagnosed with spinocerebellar degeneration 13 years ago and progressively lost control of her body. She is now unable to move her arms or legs.

She was implanted with two sensors – each four millimetres by four millimetres – in the motor cortex of her brain.

A hundred tiny needles on each sensor pick up the electrical activity from about 200 individual brain cells.

“The way that neurons communicate with each other is by how fast they fire pulses, it’s a little bit akin to listening to a Geiger counter click, and it’s that property that we lock onto,” said Professor Andrew Schwartz from the University of Pittsburgh.

The pulses of electricity in the brain are then translated into commands to move the arm, which bends at the elbow, wrist and could grab an object.

Jan was able to control the arm after the second day of training and over a period of 14 weeks became increasing skilful.

The report said she gained “co-ordination, skill and speed almost similar to that of an able-bodied person” by the end of the study.

Prof Schwartz told the BBC that movements this good had not been achieved before.

 

BBC has the full article

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