A quadriplegic patient for more than ten years ago was able to control a robotic arm just by thinking about it and using your imagination, according to a study published by the journal Science.
In an investigation of the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) and the Keck School of Medicine at UCLA, Erik Sorto, 34, paralyzed from the neck down, managed movements as shaking hands or playing ‘rock-paper-scissors’ operating a robotic arm .
Until now, neuroprotésicos devices were implanted in the brain area where It locates the center of the movement, the motor cortex, which may allow patients with amputations or paralysis control a robotic arm but with an awkward movement and lags behind the thought.
Here the researchers implanted microelectrodes in the brain area where the intention of the motion occurs, the posterior parietal cortex , which managed the patient to perform movements more naturally and smoothly.
“When you move an arm, not really think about the muscles to be activated or the details of the movement (…) but think about the goal of the movement,” for example take a glass of water, said Professor Richard Andersen, director of the study.
With this research, the expert said, “we have managed to decode these real intentions to ask the subject to simply imagine the movement as a whole “.
After the operation, carried out in 2013, Sorto learned to control the cursor on a computer and a robotic arm with his mind, and once completed training doctors found that was able to perform intuitive movements with the prosthesis.
Sorto said the most “exciting” time during their learning was the first time moved robotic limb with his thoughts and said he was surprised “at how easy it was”.
The experimental results provide researchers with new information about the neural activity underlying movements Corps volunteers and presents an important step in improving neuroprotésicos devices.
Until now, researchers working in this area had implanted microelectrodes in the brain area related to the production movement. But in this case, the team made a different neuronal recording devices implanted in the posterior parietal cortex (PPC) approach, the area of the brain where nerve contain information on how motor activity is planned.
Andersen said that it hoped that the signals coming from the PPC were easier to use for the patient, making “and the process more intuitive movement.” Using MRIs, researchers monitored the neurons of the patient as the imagined movements of the limbs and eyes.
Based on the activity neuronal they recorded in the tests were able to predict which member wanted to move the patient, where he wanted to take, at what time and at what speed.
The study, supported by other above with monkeys and humans, they suggest that the posterior parietal cortex is involved in the planning of actions, in addition to more abstract as set goals and intentions concepts. The better understanding of PPC will help researchers improve in the future, the neuroprotésicos devices.
Dr. Andersen and his colleagues are now working on a strategy to improve their capabilities to the patient motor and the key issue is to ensure that the robotic arm can give the brain a kind of sensory responses.
Although currently Sorto can only move the robotic arm to very limited activities, hope is that neuroprosthesis empower patients to perform tasks more practical that allow them to regain some independence, the study says.
“This study is very significant for me. The project I need me as much as I need the project, which has made a big difference in my life, “said Sorto.
EFE
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