A group of researchers from the Battelle Memorial Institute (BMI) in Columbus, Ohio has developed a new brain-computer interface which restores both movement and sense of touch to the limbs of patients with spinal cord injuries (SCIs).

Even though such technology has already been tested in the past, what makes the new system remarkable is that movement and tactility are being restored directly in the human body, rather than prosthetics.

In the study, published in the academic journal Cell, the researchers implanted a computer chip into the brain of Ian Burkhart, a 28-year-old SCI patient who had lost all sensation in his right arm following a car accident ten years ago.

The system first collected data from the implant and relayed it to an algorithm which broke it down into movement- and sensation-related information. This showed that, unlike previously believed, touch-based neural signals are still present in SCI patients, only at levels too low to be actually felt.

Next, the researchers had the algorithm boost the strength of the signals and feed them back to Burkhart via forearm electrodes (enabling movement) and vibrations generated by a haptic armband (enabling a sense of touch).

Movement tests which Burkhart performed blindfolded showed that restoring touch improves the accuracy of movement – the object detection rate was found to be approximately 90% – which indicates that sensation in the limbs is highly important for efficient motor function.

Up next, the group is planning to reduce the overall size of their system in hopes of making it useable not only in clinical settings, but also at home.

“One of our main goals right now,” said lead author Patrick Ganzer, “is to get the system portable, so it may be even wheelchair mountable, and do these experiments in the home where it’s noisy and much more complicated… We want this technology to be used not in the laboratory eventually but at home, helping participants.”

Source: study, inverse.com