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INNOVATION FOR INDEPENDENCE
ISSUE 80 August/September 11 £6.95
Wearers ‘could turn thoughts into motion’ By Dominic Musgrave ‘BRAIN cap’ technology and neural interface software being developed at an American university could enable its wearers to turn their thoughts into motion. University of Maryland associate professor of kinesiology Jose ‘Pepe’ L. Contreras-Vidal and his team have created the system that they claim could control computers, robotic prosthetic limbs or motorised wheelchairs. He said: “We are doing something that few previously thought was possible. We are on track to develop, test and make available to the public – within the next few years – a safe, reliable, non-invasive brain computer interface that can bring life-changing technology to millions of people whose ability to move has been diminished due to paralysis, stroke or other injury or illness. “We use EEG [electroencephalography] to non-invasively read brainwaves and translate them into movement commands for computers and other devices.” The potential of the brain cap technology has attracted grants from the National Science Foundation and National Institutes of Health, and a growing list of partners that includes the University of Maryland School of Medicine, the Veterans Affairs Maryland
Health Care System, the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Rice University and Walter Reed Army Medical Center's Integrated Department of Orthopaedics and Rehabilitation. The team has successfully used EEG brain signals to reconstruct the 3D movements of the ankle, knee and hip joints during human treadmill walking. In two earlier studies they showed similar results for 3D hand movement and that subjects wearing the brain cap could control a computer cursor with their thoughts. Jose added: “This data could help stroke victims in several ways. One is a prosthetic device, called an ‘anklebot’, or ankle robot, that stores data from a normal human gait and assists partially paralysed people. “People who are less mobile commonly suffer from other health issues such as obesity, diabetes or cardiovascular problems, so we want to get stroke survivors up and moving by whatever means possible. ‘By decoding the motion of a normal gait, we can then try and teach stroke victims to think in certain ways and match their own EEG signals with the normal signals. This could ‘retrain’ healthy areas of the brain in what is known as neuroplasticity.”
Rugby star James Haskell officially opened a new clinic in Hertfordshire. The England World Cup squad member cut the ribbon at Harpenden Physiotherapy and Osteopathy. The new clinic, which is run by Chris Eke and Nick Sinfield, will offer a wide range of treatments including physiotherapy, podiatry, sports massages, orthotics and acupuncture. Full story, Page 20