A Possible Better Future for Paralyzed People

Iván Ernesto Moreno Plaza: Ian Burkhart and researches

Researchers in Ohio, United States, are now seeking to restore the use of limbs of paralyzed people using computer chips that reconnect the muscles directly to the brain. The device, called NeuroLife, has already helped a quadriplegic young man hold his credit card and use it, or play a video game guitar; taking this into consideration, the implications of what can be achieved in the future are unlimited and amazing. Today, MIGLOBAL brought some information about the great medical advances that will probably change the life of paralyzed people.

The chip transmits brain signals to a software program that interprets and translates them into movements that the user wants to perform, and recode the signal and then send it through a wire to a special sleeve placed on the arm of the patient, which has electrodes that stimulate movement, in this case, the arm and hand.

Iván Ernesto Moreno Plaza: New medical advances

Ian Burkhart, the young man, was paralyzed from the neck down because of an accident six years ago, but today, he can share a game of Guitar Hero with his friends, thanks to the NeuroLife implant, which decrypts the messages from his brain through patterns that are then translated into a language that the muscles can understand, thus causing the movement of the limbs.

Burkhart has also tested other precision movements controlled by this device: serving water, pass a credit card and take a cellphone. This is the first time a paralyzed person has managed to make such a complex series of precise movements with his own hand, which represents an achievement for medical advances related to this branch.

The team is still in development period by Bartelle, a non-profit organization, and the Ohio State University. Much of the work has been based on the creation of software algorithms that can decode the intentions of the patient through the brain signals, and how to transmit them to the limbs in the form of electrical impulses to achieve the results.

Iván Ernesto Moreno Plaza: Ian Burkhart plays a guitar video game

In the future, an enhanced version of the device could have sensory feedback that, in other words, will provide touch sensations and accompanying the action itself. This new technology can be used in cases of strokes and other similar cases, helping 5.6 million people (in the US only) living with paralysis.