In this paper, two people with tetraplegia
- that is two people who were
unable to move their arms or their legs in
any functional useful way - were able to
control a prosthetic or a robotic arm
simply by thinking about the movement of
their own paralyzed hand.
And they did that using the
investigational BrainGate neural interface
system.
They thought about using their own arm
and hand as though they were reaching
out themselves with their own limb, and
the robotic arm moved much the way
their own arm would have moved.
One of the longstanding questions
not only in neuroscience but in
neuro-rehabilitation, is whether
the cells in the motor cortex and other
parts of the brain - whether they continue
to function the same way
years after that original injury.
It is possible for people to use their thoughts
to control devices, either a computer
or a robotic arm. The way that happens
is that we implant a tiny sensor, just
about the size of a baby aspirin
just into the surface of the brain.
And that sensor picks up the electrical
impulses
from a bunch of neurons.
And each of those little neurons are like radio
broadcast towers putting out impulses
and when they get to the outside, a
computer translator converts the pattern
of pulses into something that is a
command.
One of our
participants was able to do something
that
when all of us saw it for the first time
it gave us all
pause.
She reached out with the robotic arm, she
thought about the use of her own hand,
she picked up a
thermos of coffee, brought it close to her,
tilted it towards herself and sipped
the coffee from a straw.
That was the first time in nearly 15
years that she
had picked up anything
and been able to drink from it solely of
her own volition.
There was a moment of true joy,
true happiness. Beyond the fact
that it was an accomplishment
- I think an important advance in
the entire field of brain-computer
interfaces -
that it was really a moment where we
helped somebody do something that they had
wished to do for many years.
This is the culmination
of more than a decade of work beginning
with science at Brown University
that laid the foundation for all of the
translational work that led from monkeys
playing video games using their thoughts
to humans being able to control a
cursor in 2006, ultimately
to today's accomplishments.
This kind of research can only happen when
institutions come together and bring
together teams of scientists and
engineers and physicians
to work closely together
to create the ultimate device – 
one that works 24 hours a day, seven days
a week
works perfectly every time
and works for a lifetime.
That's where were all headed
and we still have some distance to get
there, but to know that it's possible
makes all of us quite encouraged about
the future.
