(ANTIMEDIA) Cleveland, OH — Many of us may be familiar with paralysis in our nightmares — the sensation of being gripped by an unseen force while all the muscles in the body cease to work. For some, paralysis is not a mere dream, but rather their daily lives. Throughout history, innovators have developed new and improved tools and technology to assist the paralyzed. However, none of these tools are quite like the most recent one.
Bill Kochevar, 56, became a quadriplegic in 2006 following a collision with a mail truck while he was riding his bike. He lost full control of his arms and legs, leaving family members and caretakers to look after him.
In 2014, Kochevar volunteered as a subject for research conducted with the BrainGate2 implants, co-led by biomedical engineers Bolu Ajiboye and Robert Kirsch from the Cleveland Functional Electrical Stimulation (FES) Center. Their goal was to restore the motor function of limbs through implanted computer interfaces in the brain. Kochevar was run through an MRI and asked to imagine himself performing different commands with his right hand. This way, researchers were able to obtain an accurate map of Kochevar’s brain waves. Surgeons then implanted two small electrodes on the surface of Kochevar’s motor cortex. The next year, thirty-six electrodes were implanted into Kochevar’s right arm.
With all the data synced up and the electrodes in Kochevar’s head connected with the ones in his arm, researchers found success.
Though he cannot fully move his arm on his own due to his atrophied shoulder muscles, Kochevar rests his arm in a harness that is linked to the BrainGate system, allowing him to move his arm up and down in the harness as he pleases. Almost immediately, Kochevar was able to do things as simple as feed himself — a task his disability made impossible for over a decade — using brain signals interpreted by a computer. This, the researchers believe, is the first case in which paralyzed individuals have been able to fully control their limbs using signals from the brain.
Further development of this type of research could result in a technological fix for severe spinal injuries, which, to this day, remain largely untreatable. Bill Kochevar is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to curing — or bypassing — spinal injuries, so it shouldn’t be long before we start seeing those afflicted with paralysis standing on their own with the assistance of electrical stimulation technology.
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