After
10 years of study and research,
Cyberkinetics, a
biotech company in Foxboro,
Massachusetts,
developed BrainGate in 2003. Dr.
John Donoghue,
director of the brain science program at Brown University, Rhode Island, and chief scientific officer of
Cyberkinetics, the
company behind brain implants, lead
the team to research and develop this brain implant system.
The
sensor having a contact lens’ size that is implanted in motor cortex of brain; it controls the movements of hand and arm. A small wire connects the neuro chip to a
pedestal that is attached to the patient’s skull.
A
cable connects the base of the skull to a computer. The brain’s 100 bn neurons pass between 20
and 200 times /
second. The electrical signals are sensed by the
implanted sensor in the brain and passes to the computer through the cable.
The BrainGate Neural Interface System is currently undergoing an experimental clinical trial being conducted under the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)’s Investigational Device Exemption (IDE) supervision. The system is designed to restore functionality to a limited and immobile group of individuals with severe mobility impairments.
People
using the BrainGate system are expected to use a PC as a gateway to a range of
self-directed
activities. It is expected that people using the
BrainGate system will employ a personal computer as the gateway to a range of
self-directed
activities. These activities may extend beyond typical
computer functions (for example;
communication) to include the control of objects in the
environment such as a telephone, a
television, and lights.
BrainGate is
a brain
implant system developed by the bio-tech
company Cyberkinetics in 2003 in conjunction
with the Department of Neuroscience at Brown University. The device was designed to help those who
have lost control of their limbs, or
other bodily functions, such
as patients with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) or
spinal cord injury.
The
computer chip, which
is implanted into the brain,
monitors brain activity in the patient and converts the intention of the user into
computer commands. Cyberkinetics
describes that such applications may include novel communications interfaces for
motor impaired patients, as well
as the monitoring-and treatment of certain diseases which manifest
themselves in patterns of brain activity, such
as epilepsy and depression.
Currently
the chip uses 100 hair-thin electrodes that
sense the
electro-magnetic
signature of neurons firing in specific areas of the brain, for example, the
area that controls arm movement.
The
brain-computer
interface (BCI), sometimes called a direct neural interface
or a brain-machine
interface, is a direct communication pathway between a
human or animal brain (or brain cell culture) and
an external device.
The
activity is translated into electrically charged signals and are then sent and
decoded using a program, which
can move either a robotic arm or a computer cursor.
In one-way
BCIs, computers either accept commands from the
brain or send signals to it (for example, to
restore vision) but not both. Two-way BCIs would allow brains and external
devices to exchange information in both directions but have yet to be
successfully implanted in animals or humans.
In
this definition, the
word brain means the brain or nervous system of an organic life form rather than
the mind. Computer means any processing or
computational device, from
simple circuits to silicon chips (including hypothetical future technologies
such as quantum computing).
Cyberkinetics
has a vision, CEO
Tim Surgenor explained to Gizmag, but
it is not promising “miracle
cures”, or that quadriplegic people will be able to
walk again - yet.
Their
primary goal is to help restore many activities of daily living that are
impossible for paralysed people and to provide a platform for the development
of a wide range of other assistive devices.
Cyberkinetics
hopes to refine the BrainGate in the next two years to develop a wireless
device that is completely implantable and doesn’t have a plug, making
it safer and less visible.
Surgenor also sees a time not too far off where normal humans are interfacing
with BrainGate technology to enhance their relationship with the digital world - if
they’re willing to be implanted.
The
invention of BrainGate is such a revolution in medical field. This great invention offers great hope that
people who are paralyzed will one day be able to operate artificial limbs, computers or wheel chair independently.