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Recordings from animal studies have been used to record signals and correlate them with limb movements in nonhuman primates, giving us the ability to translate what signals indicate movement. By processing those signals and changes in signals from the cells or ensembles of cells and rapidly comparing them to signals known to relate to specific movements, we can replicate intended movements externally. Changes in the firing rate or pattern of firing for those groups of neurons is the message, so to speak, to move a part of the anatomy.
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The microwires are similar to those used in single-fiber EMG, although what is recorded with the Utah microarray (Figure) are extracellular electric discharges within 50 to 150 μm of a particular nerve cell or an ensemble of neurons. The electrodes are connected by microwires to the pedestal, which is similar in size and shape to the exterior hardware of a cochlear implant. This microarray consists of 100 electrodes in a 4 mm x 4 mm platform, providing 96 connections, and allowing recording from up to 96 single nerve cells. With the Utah microarray, it is possible to record a single neuron or dozens or hundreds of neurons. 2007 10:261-264.Īt the heart of this technology, is the ability to record high-resolution neurophysiologic data from the cortex, sometimes from single neurons. Comparison of recordings from microelectrode arrays and single electrodes in the visual cortex. Reproduced with permission from Kelly RC, Smith MA, Samonds JM, et al. The Utah microelectrode array close up and next to a penny for comparison. The pedestal is similar in size and shape to the exterior hardware of a cochlear implant.įigure. The pedestal, in turn, is connected to an amplifier that transmits the signal to computer processers that convert and send the signal to an external device, producing an effect in real time. The core technology uses a microelectrode array, implanted in the motor cortex of a person who is unable to move their limbs, to transmit electric signals from the motor cortex through a cable that exits the skull, feeding into a pedestal attached to the patient’s skull. Instead of the neural signal traveling through the peripheral nervous system to the muscles, it was transmitted from the motor cortex to external amplifiers that processed the signals and then appropriately activated functional electric stimulators implanted in the patients arm and hand muscles. Recently someone with a cervical spinal cord injury achieved limited control of their own hand and arm. With the device implanted, subjects have been able to control an electronic cursor, a hand prosthesis, and a robotic arm. Ultimately, we would like to develop the ability for intuitive rapid control of an external device by thought. In the ongoing Braingate clinical trials a,b, which began in 2004, we are hoping to find a way to allow people with tetraplegia, whether it results from stroke, injury, or neurodegenerative disease (eg, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis ) to control an external device simply by thinking about moving their own hand.