Brain-Controlled Prostheses Soon To Be a Reality!
Development of prostheses that are controlled by, and that send signals back to, the brain, is now the ultimate aim of researchers at a new US research center. The governmentâs National Science Foundation yesterday declared an $18.5m (£11.5m) grant to launch the Engineering Research Center for Sensorimotor Neural Engineering based at Washington University. Director Yoky Matsuoka, Washington Universityâs associate professor of computer science and engineering, said, "The centre will work on robotic devices that interact with, assist and understand the nervous system. It will combine advances in robotics, neuroscience, electromechanical devices and computer science to restore or augment the bodyâs ability for sensation and movement."
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The robotic prostheses!
Researchers will formulate technologies for amputees, patients with spinal-cord disorders and those with cerebral palsy, stroke, Parkinsonâs disease or age-related neurological disorders. "We already see chips that interface with neural systems and then stimulate the right muscles based on that information, and we have purely mechanical lower-limb prostheses that are fast enough to compete in the Olympics. Our center will use sensory and neural feedback to give these devices much more flexibility and control." said Matsuoka.
Other reputed institutions, including the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), will collaborate with the Washington scientists to execute the mathematical analysis of the bodyâs neural signals, to formulate and try implanted and wearable prosthetic devices and to construct new robotic systems. Former systems might call for remote or wearable devices that help to guide rehabilitation exercises to re-function brain signals and reinstate motor control.
In the end, the researchers wish to produce implantable prosthetics that are moderated by brain signals and include sensors that shuttle information back to wearers so they can react to their environment â producing robotic systems that are truly integrated with the bodyâs nervous system. Thomas Daniel, the centerâs deputy director and a Washington biology professor, said, "I think the really interesting development is literally where the silicon meets the collagen. It remains an open challenge â one of the current problems in neural engineering."
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