Skip to main content

The Bionic Spinal Cord That Lets You Move Robotic Limbs With the Power of Thought

By
MINIMALLY INVASIVE NEURAL INTERFACE
Australian researchers have created a “bionic spinal cord.” They claim that this device could give paralyzed people significant hope of walking again. And if that’s not enough, it could do it utilizing the power of thought and without the necessity of open brain surgery.





A research team from the Vascular Bionics Laboratory at the University of Melbourne developed the novel neural-recording device, which both eschews invasive surgery and decreases the risks of a blood-brain barrier breach by being implanted into the brain’s blood vessels.
Developed under DARPA’s Reliable Neural-Interface Technology (RE-NET) program, the Stentrode can potentially safely expand the use of brain-machine interfaces (BMIs) in the treatment of physical disabilities and neurological disorders.
The researchers describe their “proof-of-concept results” which come from a study conducted on sheep, demonstrating high-fidelity measurements taken from the region of the brain responsible for controlling voluntary movement (called the motor cortex) with the use of the novel device which, as it happens, is just about the size of a paperclip.
Notably, the device records neural activity that has been shown in pre-clinical trials to move limbs through an exoskeleton.
The team, led by neurologist Thomas Oxley, M.D., published their study in an article in the journal Nature Biotechnology.






THE STENTRODE
This new device is based on an existing stent adapted to include an array of electrodes.
In short, stents are off-the-shelf therapeutic tools used to clear and repair blood vessels. The researchers were also able to make the device flexible enough so it can safely pass through curved blood vessels, but rigid enough for the array to emerge from the delivery tube when it reaches its destination.
Typically, implanting an electrode array into the brain requires a surgical procedure through an opening in the skull. On the other hand, the stentrode can be delivered via a much lower-risk procedure called a catheter angiography.




The method involves inserting a catheter into a blood vessel in the neck. Then, with the help of real-time imaging, researchers guide the stentrode to the brain where it expands and attaches to the blood vessel walls. There, the stentrode is able to read nearby neuron activity.
The results from the study demonstrate the quantitative similarity between the measurement of brain signals using the stentrode with those made by commercially available surface electrocorticography arrays that are implanted during open-brain surgery.
Doug Weber, RE-NET program manager, said: “By reducing the need for invasive surgery, the stentrode may pave the way for more practical implementations of those kinds of life-changing applications of brain-machine interfaces.”
Stentrode human trials are slated to begin in 2017 and will be conducted at the Royal Melbourne Hospital in Melbourne, Australia.




Source: DARPA

Labels

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Solar car hits U.S. in round-the-world jaunt

By
Last October, the SolarWorld GT solar-powered car set out from Darwin, Australia on a drive around the world. It has since driven 3,001 kilometers (1,865 miles) across Australia, logged 1,947 km (1,210 miles) crossing New Zealand and been shipped across the Pacific Ocean. This Friday, it will embark on the U.S. leg of its journey, as it sets out across America from the University of California, Santa Barbara.   The SolarWorld GT is the result of a collaboration between solar panel manufacturer SolarWorld, and Bochum University of Applied Sciences in Germany. The four-wheeled, two-door, two-seat car gathers solar energy through photovoltaic panels built into its roof, with its solar generator offering a peak performance of 823 watts. Custom hub motors are located in both of the front wheels. The vehicle manages an average speed of 50 km/h (31 mph), with a claimed top speed of 100 km/h (62 mph). In order to demonstrate that solar powered cars needn't be a radical...
Post a Comment
Read more

Biocomputer, Alternative To Quantum Computers

By
A team of international scientists from Canada, the U.K., Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden announced Friday that they had developed a model biological supercomputer capable of solving complex mathematical problems using far less energy than standard electronic supercomputers. The model “biocomputer,” which is roughly the size of a book, is powered by Adenosine triphosphate (ATP) — dubbed the “molecular unit of currency.” According to description of the device, published in the  Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences , the biocomputer uses proteins present in all living cells to function. It uses a strategy similar to that of quantum computers, which use qubits — the quantum computing equivalents of bits — to perform “parallel computation,” wherein  computers are able to process information quickly and accurately by performing several calculations simultaneously, rather than sequentially. In the case of the biocomputer, the qubits are replaced with ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Qualcomm showcases the Snapdragon S4 ahead of Mobile World Congress

By
We’ve already heard about Qualcomm’s latest processor, the Snapdragon S4 , which will be quad-core and utilize LTE. Qualcomm took the time to give us some details ahead of Mobile World Congress. The new SoC now supports up to three cameras (two in the back for 3D and one front-facing), 20-megapixels, and recording video at 1080p (30fps). We can also expect zero shutter lag, 3A processing (autofocus, auto exposure and auto white balance), and improved blink/smile detection, gaze estimation, range finding and image stabilization. Last but not least, it supports gesture detection/control, augmented reality , and computer vision (via Qualcomm’s FastCV). Hit the break for a couple of videos featuring image stabilization and gestures.
Post a Comment
Read more