Devices

First published results of the BrainGate pilot: a 96-microelectrode array in the motor cortex of a man with tetraplegia, decoded into a neural cursor and used to open e-mail, run a television and move a prosthetic hand and robotic arm. Hochberg et al., Nature, 2006.

Device — Intracortical

BrainGate pilot, first human results (2006)

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BrainGate · Utah array · motor cortex · tetraplegia · neural cursor · historical · academic · human

BrainGate pilot, first human results (2006)

One-line verdict: The paper that showed a person with long-standing paralysis could still drive a computer cursor from motor cortex spiking, years after injury.

Quick tags: Recording · Intracortical · Human · Published: 13 July 2006 (Nature)

Overview

What it is: A pilot neuromotor prosthesis. A 96-microelectrode array implanted in primary motor cortex recorded neuronal ensemble activity from a tetraplegic participant, identified in the paper as MN.

What was shown: Intended hand motion still modulated cortical spiking three years after spinal cord injury. Decoders turned that activity into a “neural cursor”. With it MN opened simulated e-mail and operated devices such as a television, even while conversing. He also opened and closed a prosthetic hand and performed rudimentary actions with a multi-jointed robotic arm.

What it did not show: This was one participant and early results. The authors describe them as a basis for further work, not a finished clinical system.

Spec Card Grid

Identity

  • Authors: Leigh R. Hochberg, John P. Donoghue, and colleagues
  • Published: Nature, 13 July 2006, “Neuronal ensemble control of prosthetic devices by a human with tetraplegia”
  • Participant: one man (MN), three years after spinal cord injury

Architecture

  • Sensor: 96-microelectrode array, primary motor cortex
  • Output: neural cursor; television and e-mail control; prosthetic hand; robotic arm

Evidence and limits

  • Not covered here: array dimensions and electrode length, which are in the paper’s methods; no 3D model yet

References