Australian researchers have developed a technology which allows people with upper-limb paralysis to text, email and perform online tasks using their thoughts and eye movements.
Key points:
- The device is inserted without the need for risky open-brain surgery
- Researchers hope people with paralysis could eventually control robotic limbs
- The first two trial participants have been able to control a computer using the implant
The Stentrode device is the size of a small paperclip, and rests next to the brain's motor cortex after being inserted by the neck's blood vessels.
It then uses wireless technology to connect to a computer-based operating system, which converts brain signals into commands to control a computer, with the assistance of an eye tracker.
The technology has been successfully used by two patients with motor neurone disease (MND) by University of Melbourne, Royal Melbourne Hospital and Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health researchers.
Victorian man Phil O'Keefe has been able to zoom in on computer screens just by thinking about it, and is increasingly improving his ability to control a cursor with his thoughts.
The 60-year-old was diagnosed with MND in 2015 and had the device implanted in April this year.
"It's retraining your brain to operate differently to what it's done in the past," he said in an interview provided by the university.
Mr O'Keefe is able to perform a mouse click by thinking about moving his left ankle, and other tasks on the screen are performed by thinking about other actions.
In findings published in the Journal of NeuroInterventional Surgery, the researchers wrote the intervention was "the first in-human experience" of technology of its kind.
"It's working really well," Melbourne University associate professor Nicholas Opie told the ABC.
The other participant in the trial is 75-year-old MND sufferer Graham Felstead, who had the device inserted in August last year.
"He wanted to allow his wife to go out into the garden or go shopping and not have to be standing by him, caring for him, and worried about him," Dr Opie said.
"So we were able to hook him up to a phone and he can now text her, and she's able to live her life normally and certainly he's been able to regain some of his own independence."
Both Mr O'Keefe and Mr Felstead have been using the technology unsupervised at home in their daily lives.
Trial expanded into Sydney and Brisbane
Dr Opie is co-head of the Vascular Bionics Laboratory at the university and the founding chief technology officer of Synchron, which is the project's commercial research partner.
The research was initially financially backed by the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and Australia's National Health and Medical Research Council.
It has since received more than $1.4 million from the Australian Government to expand the trial into hospitals in Sydney and Brisbane.
A third patient has recently had the Stentrode implanted.
The researchers want to turn the device into a commercial product which they said could significantly improve the quality of life for people with paralysis.
In the longer-term, they want patients to be able to control robotic limbs through the technology.
Mr O'Keefe said although he still gets excited by how he can use the technology, he is looking ahead to what it might be able to achieve in the future.
"I've always been conscious that this won't be that helpful for me as an individual in the short-term, because I won't get enough control to do what I could do with my hands," he said.
The researchers say more participants will be needed to make conclusions about the short- and long-term safety profile of the devices.
No serious adverse events were recorded as part of the trial.
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2020-10-28 22:43:00Z
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