 |
 |
Tiny implant enables paralyzed U.S. man to control computer with thoughts ATLANTA (October 23, 1998 11:56 a.m. EDT http://www.nandotimes.com) - A paralyzed Georgia man who received a tiny brain implant has become the first human to control a computer using only his thoughts. Known only by his initials, J.R., the 53-year-old man was the second person to receive the implant, about the size of the tip of a ballpoint pen, but only the first to successfully communicate with a computer using his thoughts, Roy Bakay, who developed the implant with Phillip Kennedy, told Reuters late Thursday. "What we've done is enabled a patient who was unable to move his limbs or speak to communicate through a computer," Bakay, an Emory University researcher, said. "We have him think about movement. This sends a signal to a receiving unit in his scalp, which sends a message to the computer screen." "It's like operating an on/off switch." he said. "The person thinks about the activity, electrical activity in his brain increases and sends a message to control the cursor." The implants consist of two tiny hollow glass cones coated with neurotropic chemicals extracted from the recipients' peripheral nerves. The chemicals encourage nerves to grow into the cones, penetrating the glass, Bakay said. "This puts the cells inside the cone so it keeps the cells going for a very long time. It is critical to train these cells in a stable environment," he said. "The nerve tissue grows into the cone and forms contacts or synapses. "It's those signals that we pick up. It's like having a little piece of isolated brain within the glass cone. We are able to run electrical activity off of that." Although Bakay said the research, which began 12 years ago, is in its infancy, future steps may include training "a whole series of cells to do things. There is tremendous potential." He said the goal is to improve a recipient's ability at the computer so he would be able to type letters and send e-mail. "We'd like to get them on the Internet and open communications to the rest of the world, and vice versa. "After that, we'd like for them to use the computer to control their environments, turn lights on and off, adjust a bed, call an attendant, turn the TV on or off. Finally, we hope they will be able to run prosthetic devices, wheelchairs, even prosthetic limbs." Bakay and Kennedy decided to use glass cones because metal "pokes holes into cells and they die," he said. The two people who have received the implants were both very ill, Bakay said. The first recipient died of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (Lou Gehrig's disease) before she could be trained to control the computer cursor, he said. J.R. is also in poor health, hospitalized at the U.S. Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Decatur, Georgia, near Atlanta. A massive stroke paralyzed him and left him on a ventilator. Bakay said the first recipient was "only able to move her eyes up and down and sideways a little bit," but died three months after receiving the implant. "She was able to prove all our basic premises for us," Bakay said. "She helped us identify the cells we were looking for in this project." The prognosis for the second patient, who has mastered such simple computer commands as up, down, left and right, remains uncertain. Bakay said he was taken to a hospital intensive care unit Wednesday night after developing respiratory problems. "When he gets sick he can't work," Bakay said. "The mind doesn't function well. It's difficult working with him when he is at his best, but we're learning a lot from this fellow." Bakay said a third recipient likely would be chosen next year after he and Kennedy fully understand how much the current subject can accomplish. But he said the project has very limited financing. Bakay and Kennedy experimented first with monkeys at Yerkes Regional Primate Center in Atlanta, then won permission from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to try the implants on three human recipients. The project's biggest impediment has been money. "Dr. Kennedy and I are two overworked clinicians who still have patients to see," Bakay said. "We need some help. We are hoping some venture capitalist will be interested." Copyright 1998 Nando.net Copyright 1998 Reuters News Service janet paterson - 51 now / 41 dx / 37 onset - almonte/ontario/canada http://www.newcountry.nu/pd/members/janet/ [log in to unmask]