The amount of progress scientists, engineers, and engineers have made in the medical field is remarkable. We can see innovations from treatment methods all the way to 3D printed body parts. On Wednesday a team of doctors reported that former graduate student at UC Irvine Adam Fritz, who had severed his spinal cord in a motor cycle accident, was the first patient to walk without the use of robotics. This was done with the use of “a brain-to-computer technology that can translate thoughts into leg movements.” This brain-to-computer systems works by “allowing the brain to bypass the injured spinal cord and instead send messages through a computer algorithm to electrodes placed around the patient’s knees to trigger controlled leg muscle movements.” I was in awe when reading the article because I didn’t think scientists were so close to implementing anything even remotely close to a brain-to-computer technology such as this. Although Dr. An Do, one of the study co-authors, states that the process may be able to help stroke and spinal injury victims regain some mobility some day, that day is a years from now because the results of the study need to be replicated and refined. The refining would be done by “miniaturizing the EEG component enough to be implanted inside the patient’s skull or brain, allowing for clearer reception of the neural messages and perhaps the delivery of pressure sensation from sensors in the foot back to the brain.”
In a way the procedure reminds me of the Internet of Things. Although it’s not entirely the same, some of the components are, especially the fact that sensors would be used to send sensations in the foot back to the brain. Even though a larger scale version is years away, I think Dr. Do’s study is worth it and will have amazing outcomes for the medical industry. What do you guys think of the brain-to-computer system?
Here’s the article: http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/09/24/us-usa-health-paraplegic-idUSKCN0RO06620150924