what! Brain-computer interface allows stroke patients to type quickly and accurately?

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of a clinical research paper led by Stanford University investigators in Silicon Valley Live proves that brain-computer docking can make people paralyzed through direct brain control with the highest level of speed and accuracy.

The report involved three study participants with severe limb weakness, two with atrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as "Lou Gehrig's disease," and one with a spinal cord injury. They each had an array of electrodes the size of one or two small aspirin tablets that prevented the recording of signals in their brains from the motor cortex, an area that controls muscle movement. These signals are carried over a cable to a computer and converted by an algorithm into click commands that direct the cursor to characters on the on-screen keyboard.

After minimal training, each participant had mastered enough technology to outperform results from previous brain-computer interface tests to enhance communication in people with similar impaired movements. Notably, the study participants achieved higher typing efficiency without using the associative functions commonly found in electronic keyboard applications.

A participant named Dennis Degray from Menlo Park, Calif., was able to type 39 correct characters per minute, which equates to about eight words per minute.

"A major milestone," the

Stanford researchers say, this peer-to-peer approach could be applied to a variety of computing devices, including smartphones and tablets.

"The success of our study marks a major milestone in improving the quality of life of paralyzed patients," said Dr. Jaimie Henderson, professor of neurosurgery, who performed three implant procedures at Stanford Hospital. The third was at Massachusetts General Hospital.



Henderson and Dr. Krishna Shenoy, both professors of electrical engineering, is the co-senior author of this paper, which was published in eLife on February 21.

Shenoy, a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator, said: "This study demonstrates unprecedented speed and accuracy, more than one-third. We are getting close to the speed you can type on your phone." He began in 2009. Started research on brain-computer interfaces and worked with Henderson for 15 years.


Mr Pandarinath, who was jointly appointed by Ackery University and Georgia Tech as an assistant professor of biomedical engineering, said: "It's so exciting that we're achieving a rate of communication that many people with paralyzed arms will find very useful. A critical step in making a device suitable for real-world use."

Shenoy's lab pioneered algorithms for deciphering the complex array of electrical signals emitted by nerve cells in the motor cortex, the brain's motor command center, and converting it in real-time into what is normally executed by the spinal cord and muscles Actions.

"The application of these high-performance brain-computer interface algorithms in human clinical trials shows that this technology can restore communication with paralyzed patients," said Nuyujukian.

Life-Changing

Accidents Millions of paralyzed people live in the United States. Sometimes their paralysis occurs gradually, as in ALS. Sometimes it comes suddenly, like Degray.



Degray, now 64, became quadriplegic on October 10, 2007, when he was taking out rubbish in the rain, holding recyclables in one hand and non-recyclables in the other, when he suddenly fell and slipped on the grass. The shock spared his brain, and seriously injured his spine, cutting off all communication between the brain and muscle tissue.

"Now I've lost the body below the collarbone," he said.

Degray received two device implants at Henderson in August 2016. In subsequent research sessions, he and two other study participants who had undergone similar procedures were encouraged to try to visualize the desired arm, hand and finger movement patterns. The neural signals generated by the motor cortex were electronically extracted by an embedded recording device, transmitted to a computer, and translated by the Shennuo algorithm into characters assigned to the participants by parameters that placed the cursor on the on-screen keyboard.



The researchers measured how quickly patients could correctly reproduce phrases and sentences, such as "the brown fox jumped over the lazy dog." Degray's average rate was 7.8 words per minute, while the other two participants' rates were 6.3 and 2.7 words per minute, respectively.

A tiny silicon

chip The research system used in the study, dubbed the BrainGate Neural Interface System, represents the latest generation of brain-computer interfaces. The previous generation first guided signals through wires placed on the scalp and then surgically, placed on the surface of the brain just below the skull.

The intracortical brain-computer interface uses silicon chips that exceed 1/6 of an inch, with 100 electrodes protruding through the brain to 1/4 the thickness and into the electrical activity of individual nerve cells in the motor cortex.

By contrast, Henderson compares the improved resolution of neural trunks to older generations of brain-computer interfaces, likening applause levels to individual members of a studio audience, rather than just placing them on the ceiling, "So you can tell you how fast and how hard the audience is clapping."



That day will come, says Shenoy, who predicts in the next 5-10 years, when self-calibrating fully implanted wireless systems can operate without caregiver assistance It can be used 24/7 when it is in use.

"I didn't see any insurmountable challenges," he said. "We knew we had to get there one step at a time."

Degray, who continues to be actively involved in research, typed before he had an accident, but wasn't an expert. He described his new prowess in the language of video game lovers. "It's like the coolest video game I've ever played," he said.

The results of the study drive the long-standing collaboration between Henderson and Shenoy and BrainGate's multi-agency alliance. Dr. Leigh Hochberg, a neurologist and neuroscientist at the Center for Rehabilitation Research and Development at Brown University's Massachusetts General Hospital and Rhode Island School of Neurological Recovery and Neurotechnology, directed the pilot clinical trial of the BrainGate system.

"This incredible collaboration continues to lay a new foundation for the development of powerful, intuitive, flexible neural interfaces that we hope will one day restore communication in patients with neurological disease or injury," said Hochberg.

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