The Washington Post

Ohio State University researchers are hoping to take the field of bionics a step closer by enabling a paralyzed patient to move his hand by thought via a computer chip implanted in his brain. The electrode-studded chip reads commands from the brain region responsible for hand movement, while a wire connecting the chip to a port in the patient's skull transmits the neural signals along a cable linked to a computer. An algorithm then decodes the commands and adds additional instructions that would normally come from the spinal cord. The computer connects to a sleeve of electrodes wrapped around the patient's arm, which fire in a sequence to trigger muscle fibers the subject is thinking of moving. The algorithm's thought-reading ability is based on researchers decoding and engineering brain impulses transmitted by other paralyzed patients to correspond with muscle movements. To read further, please visit http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/ohio-surgeons-hope-chip-in-mans-brain-lets-him-control-paralyzed-hand-with-thoughts/2014/04/29/c45515e2-ccaf-11e3-a75e-463587891b57_story.html.