a Group of British scientists has developed an interface, whereby the prosthetic lower we operate by thought.
the Principle of controlling artificial limbs with the help of the new interface, very simple. The easiest way to describe it as the management of their fantomową limbs – the patient imagines the movements performed by hand and thus in control of his prosthesis.
the Rest deals with a new interface that captures and interpretirovat electrical impulses sent through motor neurons located in the spinal cord. Typically, these neurons interact with muscles using electrical pulses your aksomy.
Scientists from the London school of Biotechnology and Biomedical Engineering from Imperial College London managed to intercept these signals and use them to control robotyczną prosthesis.
the Control of artificial limbs will be much better.
Robotics prostheses available at present on the market based on the interface that interpreterpath movement of the muscles. In the case of prosthetic hands, such an interface connects to a muscle positioned on the shoulder or in the intact muscle at the same hands. This method of control, however, has significant limitations and does not allow the user to perform very complicated movements of the prosthesis.
With amputation of the hands stopped, will also nerve fibres and muscles. This leads to the fact that it is very difficult to read them with a signal that can control the prosthesis. So we tried a new approach to this problem and instead of muscles, we focused on the nervous system. This means that our technology can detect and interpret these signals is much simpler, thus opening the possibility of a much more intuitive and sophisticated control robotic prostheses for patients. This is a very exciting time for this kind of research. says Dr. Dario Farina, who led the project to create a new interface.
a New method for the control of robotic prostheses has been tested in laboratory conditions on six volunteers with prosthetic arms. After a few hours of training, all participants were able to perform more complex movements with their dentures than is possible in the case of muscle interfaces.
the Patients were able to bend the joint łokciowy, to perform radial movement of the wrist. No problems have also brought actions such as clenching and opening his palm.
Not without transactions.
however, in order to connect the interface to the nervous system of the patient, required surgery. The procedure is "przepięciu" connections of the peripheral nervous system is damaged muscles responsible for movement of the hand (or hands) to working muscles.
In the case of this specific six volunteers used piersiowe muscles or biceps. Thanks to the new combination, the scientists were able to decipher the signals sent through motor neurons located in the spinal cord without any interference.
to create a working interface, the read signals have been properly mapped, and then interpreted using appropriate software. Farina admits that his team failed to "understand" all of the signals transmitted by the peripheral nervous system.
the Greater number of accurately zinterpretowanych pulse program will allow much more precise movement in robotycznej prosthesis.
Farina argues that the display of all impulses sent through motor neurons to the muscles, allowing protezom to the same degree of difficulty of movements, as in the case of real limbs.
However, if it was possible for us to create an interface, then why we should limit itself to the capabilities of natural limbs?
Device, developed by a British team of scientists is not the only way to "bind" to the human nervous system.
this year, trials on humans will also begin to "bionicznego of the spine" developed by the team of Dr. Terence O’brien from the Royal Melbourne hospital in Australia.
very strongly feel, Yes the spine is an implant the size of a paper clip for paper, which is installed in the brain of the patient. The procedure does not require any action. The size of the device allows to transport it to the brain through the jugular vein. This procedure takes several hours, and the implant itself after a few weeks is immobilized, wrastając in brain tissue.
There, with 12 built-in "feeling very much, Yes the spine is" the design of the electrodes, the implant reads the signals sent ośrodkowych propulsion system and sends them to the transmitter placed under the skin of the patient. From there the signal is already on the wireless network and can manage robotyczną a prosthesis, a wheelchair or egzoszkieletem.
while the Implant was implanted sheep. Through 190 days of tests did not reveal any complications. Studies have shown that the risk of developing venous thrombosis during the "installation" bionicznego of the spine in the brain is minimal.
it also emerged that the signal transmitted through the implant increases, after the device wrośnie in brain tissue.
O’brien connects with his invention of the high expectations. The doctor says that, based on this solution, you can create a device for the treatment of epilepsy or Parkinson’s disease. It is also possible that you very much feel, but the spine will help in the uprising bionicznego eyes.
Similar implants are also interested in the military.
the U.S. Agency for Advanced Research Projects of Defense (DARPA) is working to create the implant, which could fully interpret all the signals arising from the human neurons and convert them into computer code.
currently Existing implants of this type receive signals from approx. 100 individual neurons that they are quite primitive. In the Central nervous system is about. 10-15 billion neurons. This is a very impressive number that shows how big ambitions is DARPA.
If you actually could create an ideal interface that would be able to interpret 100 percent. of traffic signals sent through our nervous system, we could create the perfect prosthesis.
And I’m not talking about dentures that could capture the action of natural human limbs. Why should we limit ourselves? Tranhumanist have long argued that we should use the latest technological advances and scientific discoveries to overcome the limitations of our body.
Personally, I really like the prospect of having, for example, 70 years old, I can replace my aching feet on ultralekką design without such inconveniences as, for example, zakwasy and go on Scratch.
Development of the ideal interface ” brain-the computer can also revolutionize the way we currently use computers. Technology-driven idea from years describes science fiction writers.
Given that more and more ideas of this genre appearing on the market, I think that even when our lives appear prostheses, as well, that some have decided to replace their own healthy limbs.
No comments:
Post a Comment