Paging Professor X. This revolutionary device is known as BrainGate, which uses a brain-machine interface that allows users to control an external device using just their minds. Featured in this clip below is Cathy Hutchinson, who has been paralyzed from the neck down for the last 15 years. She demonstrates how she's able to control the robot using nothing but sheer brain power:
According to The New York Times, this clip is the first published demonstration proving that even humans with severe brain injuries can control a sophisticated prosthetic arm with such a system:
Scientists have predicted for years that this brain-computer
connection would one day allow people with injuries to the brain and
spinal cord to live more independent lives. Previously, researchers had
shown that humans could learn to move a computer cursor with their
thoughts, and that monkeys could manipulate a robotic arm.
The technology is not yet ready for use outside the lab, experts said, but the new study is an important step forward, providing dramatic evidence that brain-controlled prosthetics are within reach.
"It is a spectacular result, in many respects," said John Kalaska, a neuroscientist at the University of Montreal who was not involved in the study, "and really the logical next step in the development of this technology. This is the kind of work that has to be done, and it's further confirmation of the feasibility of using this kind of approach to give paralyzed people some degree of autonomy."
The technology is not yet ready for use outside the lab, experts said, but the new study is an important step forward, providing dramatic evidence that brain-controlled prosthetics are within reach.
"It is a spectacular result, in many respects," said John Kalaska, a neuroscientist at the University of Montreal who was not involved in the study, "and really the logical next step in the development of this technology. This is the kind of work that has to be done, and it's further confirmation of the feasibility of using this kind of approach to give paralyzed people some degree of autonomy."
