Brain implant helps paralysed man regain partial control of his hand

IN a world first, a paralysed man can once again move his hands and fingers after a computer chip was implanted in his brain.

In this handout picture obtained from the journal "Nature" on April 13, 2016 shows Ian Burkhart, 24, who was paralyzed from the shoulders down after a diving accident in 2010, playing a guitar video game after regaining the use of his hand through the use of neural bypass technology at the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center. Six years after a diving accident left him paralysed, Ian Burkhart can use his right hand, controlled by his mind and aided by computer software, to stir his own coffee, a groundbreaking trial reported on April 13, 2016. The feat was made possible with a pea-sized chip in the 24-year-old's head to decypher his brain signals and rerouting them to the finger, hand and wrist muscles -- bypassing the damaged spinal cord.The muscles are stimulated by an electrode sleeve worn on the right forearm, with which Burkhart can now also swipe a credit card, grasp a container and pour from it, and play the cords of a guitar video game. / AFP PHOTO / NATURE PUBLISHING GROUP AND AFP PHOTO / Handout / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY CREDIT "AFP PHOTO / Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center/ Batelle" - NO MARKETING NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS

A PARALYSED American man can now pick up a bottle or play a guitar-based computer game thanks to a small computer chip in his brain that lets his mind guide his hands and fingers, bypassing his damaged spinal cord.

Scientists described the accomplishments achieved by 24-year-old quadriplegic Ian Burkhart using an implanted chip that relays signals from his brain through 130 electrodes on his forearm to produce muscle movement in his hands and fingers.

Breakthrough ... Paralysed from the chest down, Ian Bukhart has been able to use his fingers for the first time in six years after a chip was inserted in his brain. Picture: AFP/

Mr Burkhart first demonstrated the “neural bypass” technology in 2014 when he was able simply to open and close his hand.

But the scientists, in research published in the journal Nature, said he can now perform multiple useful tasks with more sophisticated hand and finger movements.

The technology, which for now can only be used in the laboratory, is being perfected with an eye toward a wireless system without the need for a cable running from the head to relay brain signals.

World first ... Six years after a diving accident left him paralysed, Ian Burkhart can now use his right hand, controlled by his mind and aided by computer software. Picture: AFP

“This study marks the first time that a person living with paralysis has regained movement by using signals recorded from within the brain,” said bioelectronic medicine researcher Chad Bouton of the New York-based Feinstein Institute for Medical Research, who worked on the study at the Battelle Memorial Institute in Ohio.

Mr Burkhart said the technology lets him function like “a normal member of society”.

The technology potentially could help people not only after spinal cord injuries, but after strokes or traumatic brain injuries, Bouton added.

Mr Burkhart, a former lacrosse goalie, suffered a broken neck and spinal cord damage at age 19 while diving into a wave in 2010, causing paralysis of his arms and legs.