Technology that is implanted into the brain could help restore the mobility of people who have suffered a spinal cord injury or stroke
Image: Justin Knight Photography/MIT/Center for Sensorimotor Neural Engineering
Researchers at the UW center examine flexible neural recording fibers that can be used in implantable devices for restoring motor function in stroke and spinal-cord patients
The “bi-directional” implantable devices being developed by researchers at the Center for Sensorimotor Neural Engineering (CSNE) can both pick up brain signals and send information to other parts of the nervous system that have been disconnected due to a spinal cord injury or stroke.
The devices record and decode electrical signals generated by the brain when a person forms an intention, for example, to move a hand to pick up a cup.
The devices are also able to wirelessly transmit that information, essentially creating a new artificial pathway around damaged areas of the brain or nervous system.
The goal is to achieve proof-of-concept demonstrations in humans within the next five years, said CSNE director and the UW professor of computer science and engineering Rajesh Rao.
Rao said to the University of Washington: “When Christopher Reeve sustained a spinal cord injury due to a fall from his horse, his brain circuits were still intact and able to form the intention to move, but unfortunately the injury prevented that intention from being conveyed to the spinal cord.
“Our implantable devices aim to bridge such lost connections by decoding brain signals and stimulating the appropriate part of the spinal cord to enable the person to move again.”
The same technology could also be used to promote plasticity for targeted rehabilitation in stroke and spinal cord injury patients — essentially reconnecting brain or spinal regions and helping the nervous system repair and rewire itself according to the University of Washington.
The National Science Foundation (NSF) recently renewed the CSNE’s funding and will award £10.8m ($16m) over the next four years to support research on implantable devices that promote brain plasticity and reanimate paralysed limbs.
CSNE deputy director Chet Moritz, a University of Washington associate professor of rehabilitation medicine and of physiology and biophysics, said: “We have a fantastic team of engineers and neuroscientists working closely together, and continued NSF support is critical to achieving these ambitious goals.”