A clinical research publication
led by Stanford University investigators has demonstrated that a
brain-to-computer hookup can enable people with paralysis to type via direct
brain control at the highest speeds and accuracy levels reported to date. The
report involved three study participants with severe limb weakness - two from
amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also called Lou Gehrig’s disease, and one from a
spinal cord injury. They each had one or two baby-aspirin-sized electrode
arrays placed in their brains to record signals from the motor cortex, a region
controlling muscle movement. These signals were transmitted to a computer via a
cable and translated by algorithms into point-and-click commands guiding a
cursor to characters on an onscreen keyboard.
Each participant, after minimal
training, mastered the technique sufficiently to outperform the results of any
previous test of brain-computer interfaces, or BCIs, for enhancing
communication by people with similarly impaired movement. Notably, the study
participants achieved these typing rates without the use of automatic
word-completion assistance common in electronic keyboarding applications
nowadays, which likely would have boosted their performance. One participant, was
able to type 39 correct characters per minute, equivalent to about eight words
per minute. This point-and-click approach could be applied to a variety of
computing devices, including smartphones and tablets, without substantial
modifications, the Stanford researchers said.
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