SIGHTINGS


 
Implants Can Now Allow
Humans To Control Computers
By Nigel Hawkes
Science Editor
The Times (London)
www.the-times.co.uk
 
 
AN AMERICAN scientist has entered the world of science fiction by implanting electrodes in the brains of disabled people so that they can control a computer by the power of thought.
 
The implants have enabled two paralysed people to move the cursor on the screen simply by thinking about moving part of their body. They were able to convey messages such as "I'm thirsty" or "please turn off the light" by pointing the cursor at different icons.
 
The hope is that eventually patients will be able to communicate complex ideas just by thinking about them. "If you can run a computer, you can talk to the world," Dr Ray Bakay of Emory University in Atlanta, whose team developed the implants, said.
 
A number of laboratories around the world are working on brain implants, but the only devices licensed for use so far are bionic ears for the profoundly deaf and chips which can control the tremor caused by Parkinson's disease.
 
The Emory implants go much further. They consist of two hollow glass cones, each the size of a ballpoint pen tip, placed into the brain's motor cortex, which controls body movements. The cones are covered in chemicals that encourage nerve growth, extracted from the patient's knees. Once installed, nerve cells grow into the cones and attach themselves to tiny electrodes inside.
 
The location of each cone is determined by monitoring the patient's brain using scanners and identifying the most active regions. Once the cones are in place and surrounded by nerve cells, the patient is asked to think about moving some part of the body, and signals from the electrodes are picked up by a small transmitter-receiver, amplified, and used to control a computer. Depending upon which nerves grow into the cones, each patient may have to think about moving a different part of the body to achieve the same effect.
 
They are trained by listening to a buzzer which becomes faster and louder when they are thinking along the right lines. Dr Bakay says that controlling the cursor soon becomes second nature.
 
The first two patients, New Scientist reports, were a woman with motor neurone disease, who was given the implants 18 months ago and has since died, and a 57-year-old man paralysed by a stroke.
 
They were taught very simple commands, with one cone being used to move the cursor up and down and the other from left to right. If they could give more complex commands, disabled people could use them to make the computer speak for them. Dr Bakay warns that this could still be years off. But he has secured funding from the US National Institutes of Health to continue the research with three more patients.
 
The British Telecom laboratories near Ipswich have also done research into implantable chips, including a possible memory chip which would take data from the eye and store it for a computer. "There is a raft of wonderful benefits to bringing chips and circuits inside human beings," said Dr Peter Cochrane, head of research.
 
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In a related note...here is a recent patented item of interest:
 
Date: Wed, 14 Oct 1998 21:12:41 -0500
From: Stephen MILES Lewis <elfis@ccsi.com
To: UFO UpDates <updates@globalserve.net
Subject: Patented Subcutaneous Programmable Implant
 
At the below url is an implant patent from 1997
 
http://patents.uspto.gov/cgi-bin/ifetch4?INDEX+PATBIB-ALL+0+21927+0+5+51095+OF+1
+1+1+PN%2f5638832
 
United States Patent 5,638,832
Singer, et. al.
June 17, 1997
 
Programmable subcutaneous visible implant
 
Abstract
 
A subcutaneous implant for displaying various re-programmable information or decorative patterns beneath the surface of the skin of a person or an animal. A biologically inert subcutaneous implant is constructed of a flexible material so as to conform to the skin's surface. The subcutaneous implant includes a battery for providing power to the implant. The subcutaneous implant also includes a receiver for receiving programming information from a user, and a display for displaying the programming information through the skin.
 
Inventors: Singer; Andrew J. (Palo Alto, CA); White; Sean (San Francisco, CA).
Assignee: Interval Research Corporation (Palo Alto, CA).
Appl. No.: 477,096
Filed: Jun. 7, 1995
 
Intl. Cl.: A61B 19/00
Current U.S. Cl.: 128/899
Field of Search: 128/897-899, 654
 
References Cited | [Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents 4,233,964
Nov., 1980 Jefferts et al. 128/899 5,041,826
Aug., 1991 Milheiser 5,074,318
Dec., 1991 Campbell et al. 5,205,286
Apr., 1993 Soukup et al.128/899 5,322,034
Jun., 1994 Willham et al. 5,324,940
Jun., 1994 Ekstrom 5,482,008
Jan., 1996 Stafford et al. 128/899
 
Primary Examiner: Cohen; Lee S.
Assistant Examiner: Lacyk; John P.
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Brooks & Kushman
 
19 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures





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