US researchers have developed a new tcehnique that allows disabled people to use tradition desktop PCs without assistance, reported the German news agency (dpa).
A team from the BrainGate consortium, which specialized in adapting modern technology to serve disabled people, managed to develop a new interface that responds to a disabled person's needs.
It uses a small sensor fixed on the head, above the motor cortex to record neural activity directly and transform it into motor signals to navigate on commonly used tablet screens.
The sensor is an aspirin-sized implant that detects the signals associated with intended movements produced in the brain. Those signals are then decoded and routed to external devices.
BrainGate researchers used this technique to allow people to move robotic arms or to regain control of their own limbs, despite having lost motor abilities from illness or injury.
The innovation allows a disabled person to operate various apps usually used on a tablet, including email, music streaming, video sharing and web browsing.
The Techxplore website quoted Jaimie Henderson, a Stanford University neurosurgeon, who said: "For years, the BrainGate collaboration has been working to develop the neuroscience and neuroengineering to enable people who have lost motor abilities to control smart devices just by thinking about the movement of their own arm or hand."
"It was wonderful to see the participants express themselves or just find a song they want to hear," he added.
