“It is a horrifying concept: being buried alive. Even more terrible is the prospect of living trapped in our own bodies, unable to move or communicate. It’s called locked-in syndrome. Characters like Captain Pike and Jean-Dominique Bauby, (one fictional, the other not) describe the fear and frustration of living with a healthy mind in a broken body. But there is a real-life hope. As its name suggests, Cyberkinetics’ Braingate Neural Interface device allows patients to open the door between their mind and the outside world. Utilizing years of research studying brain signals, Braingate can read impulses in the brain using tiny implanted wires and translate those impulses into commands for computer cursors, wheelchairs, and perhaps even robotic limbs.”

“Technological advances have helped many disabled people perform normal functions again. Helping blind people to see is beyond today’s technology. But tomorrow’s technology may be able to do it. A research at San Diego’s Salk Institute is trying to create a prosthetic device that can restore sight.”

“IMEC’s design and modeling strategy allows for the development of advanced brain implants comprising multiple electrodes capable of simultaneous stimulation and recording, similar to the way neurons function in healthy brain activity, the researcher said. By following this approach, prototype probes with 10-µm electrodes were produced with various topologies, IMEC said.”

“Neurolutions is a newly formed company located in St. Louis, MO. Wadsworth says that the company will develop and commercialize medical devices that “directly harness the brain’s electrical signals for communication and control systems for people with severe motor disabilities.” The potential applications include controlling prosthetic limbs and operating wheelchairs or computers.”