Like Avatar plot, man moves mechanical arm with thoughts   

中國首次成功在腦中植入電極用意念控制機械手臂

2年前，浙江大學成功提取并破譯了猴子大腦關于抓、勾、握、捏四種手勢的神經信號，使得一只名為“建輝”的猴子如同《阿凡達》中的鋼鐵戰士一樣，通過“意念”控制一只機械手進行不同的動作。2年后，在此研究成功基礎上，中國首次用病人顱內植入電極意念控制機械手，并成功完成高難度的肢體運動。這一研究，使得腦機接口技術的臨床應用向前邁進了一大步，已基本達到世界最高層次。[查看全文]

(ECNS) -- Pioneering research at Zhejiang University has enabled a man to use his thoughts to move a mechanical arm, offering hope to people needing artificial limbs, chinanews.com reported.

Zheng Xiaoxiang, leading professor of a bio-medical research program at Qiushi Academy for Advanced Studies, announced on Monday that they had succeeded in capturing and deciphering the signals from a patient's brain and interpreting them into real-time robotic finger movements with 80 percent accuracy.

Zhang Jianmin, a neurosurgeon at the Second Affiliated Hospital of the Zhejiang University School of Medicine, said they have implanted a micro-electrode measuring four centimeters long and eight centimeters wide into the brain of a patient who has epilepsy.

But the current technology only allows the micro-electrode to stay in a human's brain for less than a month, he added.

There's a long way to go before the microchips can help humans regain control of their limbs, but it definitely will be a blessing for paralyzed people and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) patients, an expert said.

Two years ago, the team implanted a microchip into a monkey, allowing the animal to use its mind to prompt a mechanical arm to reach out and grab food and drinks.

In James Cameron's sci-fi blockbuster Avatar, a paralyzed soldier uses a computer to control a body remotely.