Tetrapléjicos manage a robotic arm with the brain

2012/05/16 Etxebeste Aduriz, Egoitz - Elhuyar Zientzia Iturria: Elhuyar aldizkaria

• Teknologia
• Medikuntza
• Anatomia/Fisiologia

Two people have been able to drive a robotic arm with tetraplegic brain and catch objects. A group of international researchers has announced this achievement in the current issue of the journal Nature.

For the collection of brain activity, a sensor has been installed in the motor crust. In this way, the signals of the neurons of the area have been collected, and they have become orders for the robotic arm. In this way, the tetraplegic people had already managed to move the cursor of a computer and click, and it has also been achieved that healthy monkeys control the robotic arms, but it is the first time that it is demonstrated that a tetraplegic person can control the three-dimensional movement of a robotic arm.

In the video published by Naturekek you can see how a woman who was left tetraplegic 15 years earlier by a cerebral infarction takes a glass with the robotic arm and takes it to the mouth.

According to the researchers, there is still much to improve, but this technology could be a good solution in the future for patients who are in a situation of lack or paralysis of limbs. One of the following steps would be the wireless operation of the system, since for the moment the sensor inserted in the brain must be wired.

Additional information:

Translators of the brain (Elhuyar, nº 268, October 2010)