A quadriplegic in the US has become the first recipient of a brain implant allowing him to move his fingers again.
Ian Burkhart was left paralysed below his elbows and unable to walk following a diving accident six years ago.
Now, with the help of a computer chip implant and an electronic sleeve, he is able to grasp and move large objects and even play video game Guitar Hero. [[{"type":"media","view_mode":"content_original","fid":"93480","attributes":{"class":"media-image"}}]]
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The implant reads Burkhart's brain signals and decodes them using a computer before stimulating the muscles in his arm via the electrode-covered sleeve.
The system is imprecise and requires incredible levels of concentration from the 24-year-old from Ohio.
"Initially we'd do a short session and I'd feel mentally fatigued and exhausted, like I'd been in a six or seven-hour exam," said Burkhart.
"For 19 years of my life I took it for granted: I think and my fingers move. But with more and more practise it became much easier. It's second nature."
Despite the breakthrough, the new technology is not a cure for paralysis, says the New York Times. Burkhart can use his hand "only when connected to computers in the lab, and the researchers said there was much work to do before the system could provide significant mobile independence", reports the paper.
Nevertheless, Burkhart remained positive. "Right now, it's only in a clinical setting, but with enough people working on it and enough attention, it can be something I can use outside of the hospital, at my home and outside my home and really improve the quality of my life," he said.
The scientists' study, published in the science journal Nature, marks a significant moment in the field of using computers to bypass spinal cord injuries, says the BBC.
"This really provides hope, we believe, for many patients in the future as this technology evolves and matures to help people who have disabilities to allow them to be more functional and more independent," said Ali Rezai, the neurosurgeon who implanted the chip in Burkhart's brain.
"Ten years ago we couldn't do this. Imagine what we can do in another ten."
-
Political cartoons for October 27Cartoons Monday's political cartoons include improving national monuments, the NBA gambling scandal, and the AI energy vampire
-
Donald Trump’s week in Asia: can he shift power away from China?Today's Big Question US president’s whirlwind week of diplomacy aims to bolster economic ties and de-escalate trade war with China
-
The Icelandic women’s strike 50 years onIn The Spotlight The nation is ‘still no paradise’ for women, say campaigners
-
Sanae Takaichi: Japan’s Iron Lady set to be the country’s first woman prime ministerIn the Spotlight Takaichi is a member of Japan’s conservative, nationalist Liberal Democratic Party
-
Russia is ‘helping China’ prepare for an invasion of TaiwanIn the Spotlight Russia is reportedly allowing China access to military training
-
Interpol arrests hundreds in Africa-wide sextortion crackdownIN THE SPOTLIGHT A series of stings disrupts major cybercrime operations as law enforcement estimates millions in losses from schemes designed to prey on lonely users
-
China is silently expanding its influence in American citiesUnder the Radar New York City and San Francisco, among others, have reportedly been targeted
-
How China uses 'dark fleets' to circumvent trade sanctionsThe Explainer The fleets are used to smuggle goods like oil and fish
-
One year after mass protests, why are Kenyans taking to the streets again?today's big question More than 60 protesters died during demonstrations in 2024
-
What happens if tensions between India and Pakistan boil over?TODAY'S BIG QUESTION As the two nuclear-armed neighbors rattle their sabers in the wake of a terrorist attack on the contested Kashmir region, experts worry that the worst might be yet to come
-
Why Russia removed the Taliban's terrorist designationThe Explainer Russia had designated the Taliban as a terrorist group over 20 years ago
