Smart Device 'NeuroLife' Does The Impossible: Makes Paralyzed Hand Swipe A Credit Card
A team of neuroscientists and engineers got together at Battelle to develop a smart device called 'NeuroLife' that can let paralyzed people make complex movements such as playing a video game or swiping a credit card with their hands. This miracle is achieved by implantation of a tiny chip into a person's brain which transmits electronic signals that connect the brain to muscles in the hand. The NeuroLife device interprets the thoughts in the human brain and instead of passing the signal through the spinal cord (which has been injured), it sends them directly to the an artificially created sleeve worn on the hand that stimulates the arm's muscles. This lets the paralyzed person make complex movements with his or her fingers.
The team did most of its research work at the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center and the first demonstration of their newly created technology and device was conducted on a 24 year old quadriplegic from Dublin.
Other than swiping a credit card, with NeuroLife, a paralyzed hand can pick up a spoon, pour from a bottle and also bring a smartphone to an ear. All these actions can significantly improve the quality of life for paraplegic patients.
The neuroscientists working on this project for more than a decade have combined the HD muscle stimulating sleeve with complex algorithms that decode a person's brain activity. They are recording the neural impulses from an electrode array implanted in a paralyzed person’s brain and then using that data for testing the device’s effect on the patient.
Their more recent work involved using the electronic sleeve to stimulate a person forearm for rebuilding of some atrophied muscles so that they become more responsive to different kinds of electronics stimulation.
Going forward, the team hopes to evolve the existing setup into a wireless system so that the disabled people can have a more convenient way to use the power of the system.
Check out the following video to see the tech in progress:
Source: #-Link-Snipped-#
The team did most of its research work at the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center and the first demonstration of their newly created technology and device was conducted on a 24 year old quadriplegic from Dublin.
Other than swiping a credit card, with NeuroLife, a paralyzed hand can pick up a spoon, pour from a bottle and also bring a smartphone to an ear. All these actions can significantly improve the quality of life for paraplegic patients.
The neuroscientists working on this project for more than a decade have combined the HD muscle stimulating sleeve with complex algorithms that decode a person's brain activity. They are recording the neural impulses from an electrode array implanted in a paralyzed person’s brain and then using that data for testing the device’s effect on the patient.
Their more recent work involved using the electronic sleeve to stimulate a person forearm for rebuilding of some atrophied muscles so that they become more responsive to different kinds of electronics stimulation.
Going forward, the team hopes to evolve the existing setup into a wireless system so that the disabled people can have a more convenient way to use the power of the system.
Check out the following video to see the tech in progress:
Replies
You are reading an archived discussion.
Related Posts
Hi Amigos!
I am Shubhi, Computer Science engineering sophomore living in New Delhi.
I love anything that involves creativity. I am a bookworm who loves writing.
I joined CE because...
Cancer, the worlds’ deadliest disease has crippled the human civilization for long, and a proper cure to it is still not in sight. According to the MIT press report, pancreatic...
Heat engines have been an integral part of the industry, ever since the seventeenth century, when Giovanni Branca demonstrated his steam engine to the world. Thermodynamically speaking, a heat engine...
The wonder material Graphene is again in the news. This time, a group of scientists from the University of Southampton has collaborated with the Japan Advanced Institute of Science and...
Taking a cue from Samsung, Huawei has launched a virtual reality headset for its flagship smartphones. The virtual reality headset plainly titled Huawei VR has been made exclusively for Huawei...