“NEURAL PROSTHETICS” February 24, 2010

On November 2nd, 2008, the CBS News program, 60 Minutes, ran a fascinating 15’ segment, called “Brain Power,” in an area of study and now clinical trials that fits in the general category of what is often called Neural Prosthetics. It has also been called Neural Engineering.

In the 60 Minutes segment, research is discussed regarding the use of BCIs, Brain-Computer Interfaces, in animals and in two individuals. Monkeys are shown learning to use their thinking – just their thoughts! – to activate a robotic arm. Two persons are shown, one gentleman with ALS (Lou Gehrig’s Disease), who uses a cap with electrodes, hooked up to a computer, and he has learned to write, send emails, text, and therefore communicate, using nothing but his thoughts. The other individual, a woman who sustained a severe stroke years earlier, leaving her unable to communicate and paralyzed, has had electrodes implanted in her brain which also allow her to complete such things as picking from a computer menu to do things in her environment (e.g., play music from a computer list), or operating a wheelchair.

Neural Prosthetics is a discipline related to neuroscience and biomedical engineering concerned with developing neural prostheses, artificial devices to replace or improve the function of an impaired nervous system. Prominent in this area is the restoration and augmentation of human function via direct interactions between the nervous system and artificial devices. The neuroprosthetic seeing the most widespread use is the cochlear implant, with approximately 100,000 in use worldwide as of 2006. A cochlear implant is a small, complex electronic device that can help to provide a sense of sound to a person who is profoundly deaf or severely hard-of-hearing. The implant consists of an external portion that sits behind the ear and a second portion that is surgically placed under the skin. As Ken Ross, OWL’s Information Technology Specialist observed, “The day may not as far away as we think that our brains (via BCIs) can be connected to our computers.”

For example, work is being done (The Western Canada Regeneration Initiative) trying to “marry nerve cells to microchip technology.” This team’s research is aimed at creating a tube-shaped microchip designed to send out electrical signals to encourage nerve fibers to grow together and connect to one another. “If we generate electrical signals on a microchip, we can guide nerve cells sitting on that chip to grow and connect along specific pathways. Our dream is to bypass scar tissue and put nerve communication back on track. That would mean a new life for people with brain or spinal cord injuries.” (Naweed Syed, Ph.D., Head of Cell Biology and Anatomy and Research Director, Hotchkiss Brain Institute, University of Calgary Faculty of Medicine)

To capture electrical signals from the brain, scientists have developed microelectrode arrays smaller than a square centimeter that can be implanted in the skull to record electrical activity, transducing recorded information through a thin cable. The technology behind neuroprostheses is still in its infancy, but the ability to communicate, to move with the aid of equipment, and to operate equipment in one’s world may be just a start as to the ability of the mind, through the brain, to overcome the devastating effects of brain injury and spinal cord injury, and other central nervous system dysfunction.

You can access the 60 Minutes segment referenced above at: Click Here