Cyborgs
Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy Mind-controlled robotic arm has skill and speed of human limb
Experts are calling it a remarkable step forward for prosthetics controlled
directly by the brain. Other systems have already allowed paralyzed patients to type or write in freehand simply by thinking about the letters they want. In the past month, researchers in Switzerland also used electrodes implanted directly on the retina to enable a blind patient to read. The development of brain-machine interfaces is moving quickly and scientists predict the technology could eventually be used to bypass nerve damage and re-awaken a person's own paralyzed muscles. Will we ever… have cyborg brains?
For the first time in over 15 years, Cathy Hutchinson brought a coffee to her
lips and smiled. Cathy had suffered from the paralysing effects of a stroke, but when neurosurgeons implanted tiny recording devices in her brain, she could use her thought patterns to guide a robot arm that delivered her hot drink. This week, it was reported that Jan Scheuermann, who is paralysed from the neck down, could grasp and move a variety of objects by controlling a robotic arm with her mind. |