The beckoning finger of this metal arm marks the first time a human mind has wiggled individual artificial digits, according to researchers at Johns Hopkins University. "We believe this is the first time a person using a mind-controlled prosthesis has immediately performed individual digit movements without extensive training," said Nathan Crone, senior author of the study, which was published in the Journal of Neural Engineering. "The technology goes beyond available prostheses, in which the artificial digits moved as a single unit to make a grabbing motion like one used to grip a tennis ball."
The subject in the trial was not missing an arm of their own, but already had 128 electrodes surgically implanted in their brain to help monitor their epilepsy. Using that system, the researchers mapped the subject's brain and bypassed control of their own arm. By then tracking specific areas responsible for moving each finger, the prosthesis was programmed to move the corresponding digit.
The experiment was performed on a patient who was not missing a limb, researchers were also able to collect tactile data via a vibrating glove; buzzers fitted in the glove measured subsequent electrical activity for each finger.
Once the data had been collected, the arm was programmed to respond to the electrical activity of the brain, meaning that the subject only had to think about moving individual fingers for the prosthetic to respond accordingly.
Researchers hope that the technology will eventually become available for those missing limbs, though Crone described the development of such technology as "costly, requiring extensive mapping and computer programming".
The John Hopkins system is far from the only technology using mind-control, of course. Others that WIRED has covered recently include:
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
