The mind-computing device with a brain implant, co-researched by a Carnegie Mellon University professor, has been successfully tested in four Australian patients for a year. A follow-up experiment in the United States is approaching.
Four people with paralysis have now been able to use computers by thinking alone, thanks to a device implanted in the brain.
The device, called the Brain-Computer Interface, allows patients to write emails and documents, surf the Internet and perform everyday activities such as online shopping and banking.
One of the patients, Philip O'Keefe, 62, used the device to compose a tweet in English "Hello, world!" in December 2022. The results of the Australian experiment were announced on Tuesday and will be presented in April at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Neurology, in Seattle.
The University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine (UPMC) and Mount Sinai Hospital in New York will participate in the first clinical trial in the United States with the implant. The device is manufactured by a New York company called Synchron.
“A simple way to visualize this brain-computer interface is this replacement of the typing keyboard that we use to communicate with computers” - Douglas Weber, professor of mechanical architecture at CMU and author of this study, says.
Mr. Weber advised Synchron on the development of the device. "If you're paralyzed and can't use your fingers, you need another technology."
Voice recognition is an alternative, but not all devices or applications are capable, and some paralyzed patients have lost control of their voice. Eye-tracking technology is currently the only solution for them. A brain-computer interface suggests a healthier option for paralyzed patients.
Using 16 sensors with its resurfacing capabilities, the implant collects information from the cerebral cortex that governs activity in the brain. These signals are then sent to a second device implanted in the chest. There, they are translated into computer control commands.
"Even though the muscles are paralyzed, the activity on those muscle fibers can be traced through signals from the brain," says Weber. “Our thoughts guide our magnetic behaviors. And in the absence of muscle activity, those thoughts can still be sensed by sensors placed in and around the brain."
Participants in this Australian study were paralyzed by amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, known as Lou Gehrig's disease - a neurological condition in which nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord are gradually destroyed.
Five patients were considered for the experiment, but one was excluded for medical reasons. Four patients had the device implanted, and the investigator screened them for a year. The implant remains in place and is safe without causing major complications.
In the upcoming US trial, the team plans to consider three quadriplegic patients, starting this fall. The researchers will collaborate with Synchron on machine learning, to decode signals from the patient's brain and more accurately infer their intentions.
“This is an opportunity for patients,” said Dr. David Lacomis, co-lead researcher at UPMC and a professor of neurology and pathology at Pitt. According to him, this technology not only improves the quality of life for paralyzed people, but also reduces the burden of caring for them.
For decades, researchers have been developing brain-computer interfaces to help paralyzed people control computers or other devices, like robotic arms.
Some other interfaces require drilling holes through the skull to install the implant. Some come with other arrangements with an external, open extension cord exposed from the patient's head. In contrast, the device is attached via a skin line at the neck, has no wires, and is fully implanted in the person.
Dr Peter Konrad, chief of neurosurgery at West Virginia University School of Medicine and was not involved with Synchron's study, said the study represents "a unique approach, in delivering a large number of devices mechanically proximal to the cerebral regulatory system in paralyzed patients”.
Mr. Konrad recognized the safety of the implantable device in humans for at least a year. However, he also commented that the study was not designed to compare the implant's ability to operate a computer with existing brain-computer interfaces.
"However, the simplicity of the device implantation as well as the safety of this technology has made a breakthrough for the more than 5 million paralyzed people in need of assistance," Konrad said.
The device will still need to go through several years of testing before it can be approved for use by the US Food and Drug Administration.
The ultimate hope is a brain-computer interface that could help paralyzed people run a smart home, according to Dr. Lacomis. “Someone can turn on the lights, the TV screen, change the channel, turn on the radio and use the robotic arm. The applications of this technology are truly diverse.”
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