Fastest Brain-Computer Interface Lets Severely Paralyzed Type Quickly

At Stanford University, researchers have given severely paralyzed people the fastest brain-computer interface yet. This is measured in terms of how fast they were able to type using an on-screen matrix of letters.

Two patients with ALS and one with a spinal cord injury simply imagined moving a physical computer mouse, though their hands were stationary. Their intended movements generated within the brain were interpreted into the movements of a mouse on a screen.

One of the patients in the study was able to type 39 characters per minute, and not using any word-completion software that are common on smartphones. Of course if this technology is coupled with such software, such patients may be nearly as quick as healthy people at texting. There are other hurdles to overcome before that is practically and commonly feasible, such as developing long lasting wireless implants which don’t lead to infections and can be used continuously for years.

Fonte:http://www.medgadget.com/2017/02/fastest-brain-computer-interface-lets-severely-paralyzed-type-quickly.html

Comentário do Bloguista: Cada vez mais os investigadores dedicam-se à área da reabilitação proporcionando cuidados de saúde especializados dedicados a melhorar, manter ou restaurar a força física, cognição e mobilidade com resultados maximizados. Ou seja, para que os indivíduos consigam atingir o mais alto nível de função, independência e qualidade de vida possível.Neste estudo, os sinais neuronais foram registados a partir do córtex motor, área responsável pela geração de movimento no lado oposto do corpo, usando matrizes de micro elétrodos intracortical. Esses sinais foram então traduzidos em comandos de apontar e clicar usando dois algoritmos desenvolvidos pelos investigadores.