Interesting developments in medical prosthetics.

[catsmate]

From The Lancet.
High-performance neuroprosthetic control by an individual with tetraplegia.

We implanted two 96-channel intracortical microelectrodes in the motor cortex of a 52-year-old individual with tetraplegia. Brain—machine-interface training was done for 13 weeks with the goal of controlling an anthropomorphic prosthetic limb with seven degrees of freedom (three-dimensional translation, three-dimensional orientation, one-dimensional grasping). The participant's ability to control the prosthetic limb was assessed with clinical measures of upper limb function.

The results are very interesting:

The participant was able to move the prosthetic limb freely in the three-dimensional workspace on the second day of training. After 13 weeks, robust seven-dimensional movements were performed routinely. Mean success rate on target-based reaching tasks was 91·6% (SD 4·4) versus median chance level 6·2% (95% CI 2·0—15·3). Improvements were seen in completion time (decreased from a mean of 148 s [SD 60] to 112 s [6]) and path efficiency (increased from 0·30 [0·04] to 0·38 [0·02]). The participant was also able to use the prosthetic limb to do skilful and coordinated reach and grasp movements that resulted in clinically significant gains in tests of upper limb function. No adverse events were reported.

Or, for the test scientifically inclined, the patient was able to intentionally move an arm, turn and bend a wrist, and close a hand for the first time in nine years.

More here and here.

 

[pakeha]

Fantastic news, catsmate1. Thanks for posting it.

 

[catsmate]

Indeed it's good to see how medical science is progressing.
I wonder if a certain CTer will be visiting this thread, given his claims that there have been no developments in medical science...........

 

[dlorde]

A couple of videos:
Mind control 1, Mind control 2