A quadriplegic patient for over ten years, has been able to control a robotic arm just by thinking about it and using his imaginació n, according to a study released today by Science.
In a study of California Institute of Technology (Caltech) and the Keck School of Medicine at UCLA, Erik Sorto, 34, paralyzed from neck down, made movements such as shaking hands or playing “rock-paper-scissors” operating a robotic arm next to it.
Until now, devices were implanted neuroprotésicos in the area of the brain where the center is located 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.
In this case, the researchers implanted microelectrodes in the brain area where the intent of the motion occurs, the posterior parietal cortex, which have made the patient perform movements in a way more natural and fluid. “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, instead of divided into a myriad of components. ” After the operation in 2013, Sorto learned to control a computer cursor 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 robotic limb shook his thinking and said he was surprised ” how easy it was. ” The experiment results provide researchers with new information about the neural activity underlying the voluntary movements of the body and presents an important step in improving neuroprotésicos devices.
So far, researchers working in this area had implanted microelectrodes in the area of the brain related to the production of motion. 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 contains 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 magnetic resonance imaging, the researchers monitored the neurons of the patient while the imagined movements of the limbs and eyes. Based on the neuronal activity recorded in the tests, they were able to provide that member wanted to move the patient, where they wanted to take, at what time and at what speed.
The study supported in previous 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, the hope is that the neuroprosthesis empower patients to perform tasks more practical to allow them to regain some independence, the study says.
“This study is very significant for me. The project needs me as much as I need the project, which has made a big difference in my life, “said Sorto.
EFE
No comments:
Post a Comment