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Thought-Controlled Prosthetics

Posted by kdawson on Mon Nov 12, 2007 09:02 AM
from the gort-klaatu-barata-nikto dept.
Robotics Science
Ponca City, We Love You writes "Physiatrist Todd A. Kuiken, M.D., Ph.D. has pioneered a technique known as targeted muscle reinnervation (TMR), that allows a prosthetic arm to respond directly to the brain's signals, allowing wearers to open and close their artificial hands and bend and straighten their artificial elbows nearly as naturally as their own arms. Doctors first perform nerve transfer surgery to redirect nerves that go to the amputated arm to the patient's chest muscles. Then when the chest muscle contracts, an electromyogram picks up the electrical signal to move the prosthetic arm. So when the patient thinks 'close hand,"' the hand closes. Now the team wants to see if they can extract more information from the electrical signals produced by the nerves to provide a greater number of hand and arm movements. Theyd have been able to identify unique EMG patterns with 95% accuracy for 16 different elbow, wrist, hand, thumb, and finger movements. 'We've been able to demonstrate remarkable control of artificial limbs and it's an exciting neural machine interface that provides a lot of hope,' says Dr. Kuiken."
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Like2Byte writes "CNN is reporting that a US Marine who lost both his legs in Iraq is now able to walk again by using bluetooth technology to coordinate his leg movement. The two legs communicate to keep the man in motion. ' [...] Computer chips in each leg send signals to motors in the artificial joints so the knees and ankles move in a coordinated fashion. Bleill's set of prosthetics [legs] have Bluetooth receivers strapped to the ankle area. The Bluetooth device on each leg tells the other leg what it's doing, how it's moving, whether walking, standing or climbing steps, for example.'"
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  • And as a bonus... (Score:4, Funny)

    by ChrisMounce (1096567) on Monday November 12 2007, @09:11AM (#21322175)
    After a couple months of using the hand, you get rock-hard abs!
  • I saw on TV news 2-3 years ago a prostetic arm used by a Scottish hotellier, which claimed to be thought-driven and gave him enough dexterity and strength to pull a pint.
  • Could this be an alternative to viagra? Aging men want to know.

  • lose hand, computer ++ (Score:3, Funny)

    by name*censored* (884880) on Monday November 12 2007, @09:17AM (#21322237)
    I'd volunteer to give up a hand/appendage, if i could have it replaced with a USB cable that acts as a keyboard/mouse! That would be awesome :)
    • In all seriousness, it wouldn't be necessarily something you would have to do to get a keyboard/mouse interface with the brain. The brain has been shown to be very adaptable and you could probaly keep your own appendages and still have the ability to interface with the computer.

      Of course, I'd donate a kidney (or two) to be the first to have this done.

  • nerve signals / muscle signals (Score:3, Interesting)

    by xristo70 (1184699) on Monday November 12 2007, @09:28AM (#21322321) Homepage
    Obviously I'm not a neurosurgeon. I look forward to posts from the experts.

    But what is the difference between the electrical signals from the nerves and those given off by contracting muscles? Since the nerves which carry the signals are known, why can't those nerve signals be read straight away? Is it a case of much easier signal patterns to identify with the electrical signals of muscles or just a question of signal strength or something much more complicated?

    Interesting as well that they should say that when the muscles are touched, for the patient is seems like the prosthetic arm is touched. Too bad they don't mention the perceived sensitivity to temperature and pressure with this effect. Put sensors on the tip of the hand and a little device on his chest and you might give the patient movement and "feeling" as well.

    • Re:nerve signals / muscle signals (Score:5, Interesting)

      by WarlockD (623872) on Monday November 12 2007, @09:41AM (#21322423)
      From what I understand, the communication with nerves not only have to be bi-directional but also we arn't sure what other signals are sent (chemical, etc). We can detect the messages to muscles as those are VERY simple and only require small electrical detectors. Decoding a straight nerve seems still seems beyond our reach.

      Mind you, this is much better than before. Previous robotic arms are built this same way, but it takes months and months of training to use your chest muscles to move your arm. Now it looks like you don't need that much therapy since they rout your arm nerves to your chest.

      PS - I am no expert, I just looked into it a bit ago when I met someone with a claw hand.

    • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

      by cortex (168860)
      The signals in the nerve can be detected directly, but the are very small, and it is harder to get a micro-electrode array in the nerve. The muscle acts like a bio-amplifier, so that the small impulses from the nerve are measured as larger electro-myographic signals (EMG). I am a neural engineer on f the team at the Univ. of Utah that is working on using the signals in the nerve directly. We can already decode the movement signals from the nerve directly and are investigating how to provide sensory feedb

    • Muscle vs Nerve signals (Score:4, Informative)

      by spineboy (22918) on Monday November 12 2007, @02:46PM (#21326187) Journal
      The nerves in the body are usually buried somewhat deep, and are insulated usually by a layer of fat, and by their insulation(fatty Schwann cells). Since the nerves innervate the muscles, the signal becomes amplified, thus making it much easier to pick up the signal (stronger, and just under the skin, not insulated).

      Another reason is that many different nerve fibers run together in a nerve, especially up in the brachial plexus (shoulder are). If this prosthesis is meant for people who have lost their are high up, then the nerves in this location, are somewhat big (between a pencil and strand of linguinni thickness), and contain many different fibers. There are about 30 different muscles in the forearm/hand, and another 20 in the shoulder and arm (and don't forget all the sensory fibers too). It might be just too hard to pick out usable signals from that mess, If some of the fibers are re-routed to a superficial muscle (chest wall pectoralis major), then it's much easier for the person to choose discrete movements, and have control over the prosthesis.

      I am an orthopaedic surgeon, so I'm just posting this part to squelch any criticism about the facts above.

  • Semi-serious thought... (Score:3, Interesting)

    by damburger (981828) on Monday November 12 2007, @09:33AM (#21322363)
    The war in Iraq has created a 'market' for prostetic limbs. Given that the latest and most advanced of these are being tested on such veterans, do you think anyone is considering fielding combat cyborgs any time in the future? Go to Iraq, get an arm blown off, go back 6 months later with a submachine gun for a hand...

      • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

        by damburger (981828)

        Actually, thats an even more disturbing thought that robotroops. Medical companies financing a war so they get lots of maimed soldiers to experiment on.

        The reason it occured to me, is that the US currently has a bit of a shortage of troops in Iraq, and certainly faces one going into Iran. Getting an arm or leg blown off is currently a permanant ticket home. I'm sure they would love to be able to strap on a replacement limb and send the poor buggar back out there to get blown up some more.

        • I'm sure (medical companies) would love to ... send the poor buggar[sic] back out there to get blown up some more.

          Regardless of one's politics, don't you think it's an outrageous and indefensible statement to suggest that a company (or individual for that matter) would take pleasure in seeing a soldier injured?

  • Quirks and Quarks [www.cbc.ca] covered this a couple of weeks ago in a pretty good interview. You can find the show here [www.cbc.ca] (in mp3 and ogg =).
  • I'm not seeing the obvious "Thought Controled Artificial Penis" jokes yet. Just think how embarrassing it would be to have something like that activating around your friend's hot mom/wife/sister, at work, in the grocery line...
    • You win the award for the most random post for the day. Congratulations! A prize will be deposited into your bank account once you post your bank's name, you login and password to access your bank account online.
    • Its still possible. Just chop off his/her legs and arms and install these prosthetics connected to a wifi connection instead of her/his brain.
      • I hope you can understand why it's wrong to do something like that. But... if you're going to do it anyway can you also make me a miniature horse with it's back legs replaced by wheels?

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