Group items tagged

A paralyzed patient implanted with a brain-computer interface device has allowed scientists to determine the relationship between brain waves and attention.

Researchers have successfully reconstructed 3-D hand motions from brain signals recorded in a non-invasive way, according to a study in the March 3 issue of The Journal of Neuroscience. This finding uses a technique that may open new doors for portable brain-computer interface systems that can be an advantage for people with disabilities or paralysis.

The article is about neuroscientists being able to store information in brain tissue. The researchers at the Case Western Reserve University conducted experiments to store information in working memory, which is short term storage. The researchers will look into how much information can be stored in the hippocampus. The study was funded by the National Institutes of Health. The article is not from a peer review journal. The article can relate to see if the bionic parts can respond to the brain and vice versa, which could prove useful in the bibliography.

The article is about using alternative methods to interface with brain tissue other than wires and electrodes. The researchers at Case Western Reserve University are conducting the research, with the use of grant money. The research was to find a way for the brain and machine to interface through wireless activity. This would be done through the use of light. The article is not from a peer reviewed journal. This article can relate in the group in terms of an alternative method of establishing an interface.

Practice Makes Perfect: Learning Mind Control of Prosthetics, discusses the study of using monkeys' brains to map neural processors for movement of their limbs. Sensors are embedded into the brain and a map is made based upon the electrical activity of neurons as animals are completing motor tasks. The application of this technology would benefit humans with prosthetics that would allow for fluid effortless control of their limbs.

Research on placing microelectrodes on top of the brain instead of being implanted. Useful for people with paralysis.

A team of researchers from the University of Washington studied the brain's activity while controlling a cursor on a computer using the keyboard. The team discovered that reacting with a cursor causes brain signals to become stronger than the signals created during day-to-day activities. They are hopeful that their findings will help speed up the recovery time of patients that suffer from strokes. Further work needs to be done on researching the process of having someone imagine how to do something that they don't think they can do, such as imagining how to move your arm. After some practice, patients in the study were able to move the computer cursor without having to imagine how to move their arms first to perform the action. Their research was published in the peer-reviewed journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The study was funded by the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, NASA's graduate student research program, and the National Institute of General Medical Sciences.

Neuroscientists demonstrated that using brain waves to type characters on a computer is possible. The research is occurring at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Florida, with collaboration from the University of North Florida with several patients with epilepsy. The project is being funded by the National Science Foundation and is still ongoing. Some of the applications it can have is that it would allow paralyzed individuals to send words out to screens, even though they are unable to speak or move.

"A portable, plugless, brain-to-computer interface using electroencephalography (EEG) electrodes strapped to the scalp has been developed by a team in the US. The device may allow paraplegics and others who have lost control of their limbs to control prosthetic devices and other equipment using their thoughts alone."

Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh have successfully implanted a device in a monkey, giving it control to move a mechanical arm with its brain. This technology could assist disabled people and help them to live a normal life. Oscar Pistorius uses carbon fiber-composite legs and is one of the fastest athletes in the world. He wanted to participate in the Beijing Olympics but was rejected because the bionic prosthetics apparently gave him an advantage over normal athletes. This poses one ethical issue if bionics become mainstream. People might decide to get rid of their human legs and replace them with these for an advantage.

A group of researchers at the University of Leicester are looking into ways to improve prosthetics and how the brain controls them. The study is led by a combined effort between Dr.TomMathesonandProfessorRodrigoQuianQuiroga,aProfessorofBioengineering. The team received £800,000 in funding from the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC). They are tasked with researching the brain and studying sensory-motor control of the limbs. They will be studying the nerve activity in locusts. The team is hopeful that their research will help them to better understand medical disorders that prevent limb movements. They hope that this will help develop better prosthetics and improve the quality of life of people. The study was posted on the University of Leicester website (http://www.le.ac.uk).

The article is about a new device, invented by a team of top European Union researchers at the Tel Aviv University, called the SmartHand. The purpose of the SmartHand is to function as a replacement hand, in the event an individual were to lose their hand. The Hand functions by wiring itself into the nerve endings of the patient. The first human subject to try the Smart Hand, Robin af Ekenstam of Sweden, comments that he can 'feel' his fingers, hinting that it feels somewhat natural. Some of the applications of the device can allow the user to eat by themselves as well as write with that hand. A challenge that the scientists will commit to now is to improve control between the brain and the hand, as well as give it artificial skin to hide the bionic look. The project is funded by the E.U. Sixth Framework.

It is called SmartHand and uses myoelectrial signals in the form of electrodes to move the motors in the prosthetic hand. The SmartHand is unique because of the sensory feedback the amputee is receiving. There are sensors on each finger that communicate with the muscles in the forearm which stimulate the brain to move the fingers of the prosthetic hand. The article discusses that the ultimate goal of SmartHand is to attach a neural network connection directly to the artificial hand through sensors.

Researchers in the article are developing a way to process 'wet' computer systems, which is another way of saying biological computers. The technology is being developed at the University of Southampton and is funded by the European Union's Future and Emerging technologies Initiative. They are working on this project since they believe the best information processes is within our brain and are accomplishing this by using lipid water droplets. The article does not indicate that it's in a peer reviewed journal. The project will run for several years.

Medical products company Second Sight developed an optical prosthetic, the Argus II, to be used for those who loss their vision due to injuries or diseases. It's a wireless communication system that's implanted into the eye that will capture images and transmit it to the brain. Second Sight has received funding from the U.S federal government.

In the article, a project funded by RIKEN and Toyota developed a Wheelchair that is controlled by using your mind. This would have an application in a sense that it would allow paraplegic individuals to move their wheelchair, even though they can't really speak with voice commands. The things that need to address is to lower the time latency from 125 milliseconds for more real-time response.