Neurochip that allows you to read the thoughts of paralyzed people

According to the World Health Organization, every year from 250,000 to 500,000 people worldwide lose their ability to move as a result of spinal cord injuries, and as a result they become disabled. As a result of recent experiments, scientists have managed to achieve colossal results that give people hope to leave their wheelchair and return to full-fledged life.

The first attempts of scientists were more than 20 years ago. Professor Gregoire Curtin started this topic with the Christopher Riva Foundation. He created a team of neuroscientists, surgeons, physical therapists and engineers who tried to solve the problem. The results of the experiments successfully conducted in mice and monkeys. But due to the death of Christopher Reeve, research has been delayed. And only recently the Swiss celebrated success.
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The experiment was conducted on two macaques, in which the spinal cord was partially dissected. One monkey with a paralyzed right leg learned to walk for 6 days, the other for two weeks.

Over time, scientists have refined technologies that could be used to rehabilitate people. And now Swiss neurophysiologists have managed to invent a device that makes it possible to understand the thoughts and desires of people shackled after an accident or serious illness.

Scientists have long tried to help people with “isolation syndrome”, arguing that patients can still think. This disease is the final stage in the development of slowly progressive neurodegenerative diseases. An example would be such diseases of the nervous system as Alzheimer's disease, Corticobasal degeneration, “Lou Gehrig's disease”, as a result of brain injury, intoxication, and drug abuse.

As the disease progresses, the patient seems to be losing himself, experiencing difficulty in moving, frequent cramps in the arms and legs. The final stage is the difficulty to swallow and breathe, and talk.



Well-known German neurologist Nils Birbaumer from Germany conducted an experiment with a group of experts, four patients with a diagnosis of ALS who were at the stage when it is difficult to breathe were the objects. The purpose of this study: to understand and prove that people with this disease have the opportunity to think and help them communicate with the outside world. Thanks to neurochip and the brain interface, a technology by which the brain transmits information to a computer, and it in turn converts data into a language understandable to a computer.

In the experiment, specialists used a magnetic resonance tomograph to monitor the brain, and an infrared spectroscope, which makes it possible to monitor the activity of nerve cells and the amount of oxygen they consume.

After a long study of the human body, scientists have concluded that our body has transparency, which is capable of transmitting thermal radiation, varying on average 800 nanometers, which hemoglobin consumes. Consequently, the device shows the darkest color, if the cell receives the most oxygen from the red blood cells.



A group of scientists found out that when observing the work of the brain, healthy people have certain features of the brain's reaction to simple questions. The fact is that the hemoglobin release concentration varies depending on the yes / no answer. If the answer is positive, the proportion increases, the stain acquires a color closer to red. And with a negative answer does not change or decreases, that is, it becomes blue-green. Nils Birbaumer with a group of scientists relied on this idea, and developed a special program that could translate such signals into “yes” and “no” answers.

This experiment was conducted on four paralyzed people of different sexes, whose guardians agreed. The results of scientists struck. Because with the help of the developed program, the participants in the experiment correctly managed to answer questions, recognize their close people, try to talk with relatives. The signals received by the program helped paralyzed people talk about what they were very pleased with. What is important is the fact that many of the participants were on artificial ventilation of the lungs, which proved the improbability and uniqueness of this development.

The results of the experiment were able to confirm that even in a paralyzed state, a person wants to communicate with people, they have the desire and hope of recovery.



Scientists argue that the experiment proves that further study and development will help develop a full-fledged formation of the speech signal according to certain parameters, as well as devices that can help paralyzed people learn to move independently.
Consider another example of American scientists from the Battel Research Organization, which several years ago was able to make a discovery in the field of treatment of a paralyzed person.

In 2010, a young man by the name of Ian Burkhart was chained to a wheelchair as a result of an accident. He was not disabled since birth, and wanted to re-learn how to control his body, which is why he agreed to the operation, which was an experiment.

At the American Medical Center in Ohio, Ian Burkhart underwent an operation to implant a special chip into the brain, which was developed by scientists. Within a couple of weeks, Jan had to learn how to control and move his hand virtually on the screen. His main tasks included the ability to concentrate mentally in order to be able to perform a certain action. The training was successful.



After the training program on the computer, Yana began to connect to special devices. A special bracelet was put on the arm, stimulating the arm muscles with the help of electrodes. And the implanted chip in the head was connected to a special device with wires, which allowed to send certain signals from the brain impulses to the machine, which were converted in the machine itself and then sent by signals to the bracelets. The picture clearly shows the process itself. After various attempts, Jan began to manage to unclench her fingers. Then he was able to independently move his wrist, raise and lower it.

Achievements of this experiment was that Jan was able to hold the spoon in his hand with a previously paralyzed hand. This was an amazing achievement in medicine and science.

Due to this, scientists continue their research and experiments in order to help paralyzed people in the future to fully learn how to work with their limbs.
Of course, the technology needs to be improved, the speed of information transfer must be very high, so that a person can control his movements in real time, and not hang. And the device should be miniature and reliable.

According to Professor Gregoire Curtin, such technologies in bioelectronic treatment, which will help paralyzed people to return to full-fledged life, will be available by 2020. But now such developments open up great opportunities and give hope to millions of people for independent movement and help in synthesizing their speech.