Brain Chip Breakthrough Enables Paralyzed Man to Move Hand

Ian Burkhart, a 23-year-old quadriplegic from Dublin, OH, was able to move a paralyzed hand--using only his thoughts thanks to a brain implant known as Neurobridge.

The technology, developed by researchers at Ohio State University and the nonprofit research organization Battelle, is said to mark one of the first times that a chip implanted inside the brain of a paralyzed patient has allowed the patient to once again use thoughts to move paralyzed limbs. Burkhart was able to perform a variety of actions, including opening and closing his fist, and picking up a spoon. It was the first time he moved his hand in four years.

"Where are now to me is still staggering in its applications," says W. Jerry Mysiw, one of Burkhart's physicians.

Check out the video below, which shows Burkhart moving his hand:

The chip, which measures 0.15 in. across and is outfitted with 96 electrodes, was implanted inside the region of Burkhart's brain that controls hand movement, according to Ohio State. It is able to interpret signals from the brain, which are then communicated to the paralyzed limb via a cable, bypassing the damaged nerves.

Here's how Wired further describes the technology:

Burkhart was able to think about moving his hand, and his hand actually moved.

This may have been one of the first times such an implant allowed a person to move paralyzed muscles. But there have been a number of breakthroughs in recent years when it comes to enabling the paralyzed to regain control of limbs.

For example, in 2011, an international team of researchers announced that a patient named Rob Summers who was paralyzed from the chest down was able to stand and walk with support using a neurostimulator in conjunction with physical therapy. The neurostimulator involved "epidural electrical stimulation" of the subject's lower spinal cord, mimicking brain signals. The researchers were based at the University of Louisville, UCLA, the California Institute of Technology and the Pavlov Institute of Physiology in St. Petersburg, Russia.

Later, a paraplegic named Dustin Shillcox was outfitted with a neurostimulator at the University of Louisville also demonstrated the efficacy of the technology by standing and balancing with assistance. He also regained control over bladder, bowel, and sexual function--even after the electrodes were switched off, according to IEEE Spectrum.

Earlier this year, UCLA announced several other paralyzed patients regained some lower limb functionality using neurostimulators. Many more paralyzed patients have also been treated using this approach, says Nick Terrafranca, CEO of NeuroRecovery Technologies Inc. (Monarch Beach, CA) in an interview with Qmed.

In 2012, a team of researchers from Brown and Stanford demonstrated that a paralyzed woman named Cathy Hutchinson could move a robotic arm using only the power of her mind, thanks to a brain implant known as BrainGate. At that point in time, she had been paralyzed for 15 years.

There are significant challenges when electrodes are actually used for brain computer interface, however, because they tend to not be very biocompatible. Mind-controlling a robotic arm without an electrode stuck in the brain is possible, but it requires extremely sophisticated readings and translations of electroencephalography (EEG) signals, Bin He, professor of biomedical engineering at the University of Minnesota (Minneapolis), said at last year's MD&M Minneapolis conference.

And yet there is hope on the EEG front, too. A paralyzed Brazilian man actually used an EEG cap to command an exoskeleton that enabled him to make the opening kick of the 2014 World Cup. Assistants were needed to steady Juliano Pinto in his bulky "Iron Man" suit, but the event provided hope that the technology used by Burkhart, Pinto and others may eventually enable people to effectively regain control of lost limbs.

Chris Newmarker is senior editor of MPMN and Qmed. Follow him on Twitter at @newmarker. Brian Buntz is the editor-in-chief of MPMN and Qmed. Follow him on Twitter at @brian_buntz.