Scientists have successfully helped a man regain his senses from paralysis using a brain chip known as the Brain Computer Interface.
Nathan Copeland suffered from paralysis due to a car accident. But a team of researchers from the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center have developed a revolutionary brain chip that has enabled Copeland to overcome paralysis. This technology helps Copeland to feel touch sensations using a robotic hand that his brain can directly control.
Copeland was in a car accident in 2004. He suffered from critical injuries that damaged his spinal cord and broke his neck. He is now paralyzed from the upper chest and he cannot feel his lower arms and legs.
He participated in Pitt's study and clinical trials, and received an opportunity to be a part of this experimental study after 10 years.
According to the co-author of the study, Andrew B. Schwartz of the University of Pittsburgh, the micro stimulation of the sensory cortex can produce a natural sensation instead of tingling.
He added that this stimulation is safe and evoked sensations that are stable. Further research is needed to gain a better understanding of these stimulation patterns to help patients make smoother and better movements.
Using imaging techniques, researchers were able to identify the exact regions of Copeland's brain that correspond to feelings and sensations to his palm and fingers. Button-sized microelectrodes were implanted in his brain by UPMC neurosurgeon Elizabeth Tyler-Kabara, who is also a co-author of the study.
Copeland says he can now feel almost every finger as really weird sensations after a month from surgery. He describes the feeling as electrical and sometimes with pressure but he can now identify each of his fingers more accurately.
This new study has been published in the journal, Science Translational Medicine.