Here's an interesting article about some new developments in medical technology that could make an impact on people with spinal cord injury or other types of paralysis; this from io9 in regard to a recent report by Nature:
Using a computerized connector between the brain and muscles in the
body, scientists have been able to restore movement to paralyzed limbs.
A group of neuroscientists report in Nature today that they used a
brain-computer interface to join the motor cortex of an ape to the
muscles in its wrist. After scientists paralyzed the ape's arm
temporarily, it was still able to make its wrist move my sending
electrical impulses directly from its brain to the muscles, bypassing
the damaged nerves in between. The study has profound implications for
people whose nerves have been severed or damaged, leaving them
paralyzed.
...
Human implementations for the technology are at least a decade away,
but this discovery could be a game-changer for dealing with paralysis.
One possibility would be to connect the motor cortex with an area of
the spine below an injury. Signals would be re-routed around the
damaged spinal cord, and could allow the brain to regain control of the
paralyzed body parts affected by the injury.
What do you think?
