New Technology Helps The Paralyzed Regain Sense Of Touch

A new technology allows the paralyzed to experience the sensation of touch through a robotic arm that is controlled with the brain has been discovered.

The Brain Computer Interface (BCI) was developed by a team of experts from the University of Pittsburgh and UPMC and led by Robert Gaunt, Ph.D., assistant professor of physical medicine and rehabilitation. It is published online in Science Translational Medicine

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‘The new technology stimulates the cortex to elicit natural sensation using brain’s natural and existing abilities.’

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That is what 28-year-old Nathan Copeland, who met with an accident that left him quadriplegic, experienced after he came out of brain surgery and was able to experience the sensation of touch through a robotic arm that he controls with his brain. He had injured his spinal cord and could not move his arms and legs. He needed assistance for daily activities.

"The most important result in this study is that microstimulation of sensory cortex can elicit natural sensation instead of tingling," said study co-author Andrew B. Schwartz, Ph.D., distinguished professor of neurobiology and chair in systems neuroscience, Pitt School of Medicine, and a member of the University of Pittsburgh Brain Institute. "This stimulation is safe, and the evoked sensations are stable over months. There is still a lot of research that needs to be carried out to better understand the stimulation patterns needed to help patients make better movements."

This is not the Pitt-UPMC team's first attempt at a BCI. Four years ago, study co-author Jennifer Collinger, Ph.D., assistant professor, Pitt's Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, and research scientist for the VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System, and the team demonstrated a BCI that helped Jan Scheuermann, who has quadriplegia caused by a degenerative disease. The video of Scheuermann feeding herself chocolate using the mind-controlled robotic arm was seen around the world. Before that, Tim Hemmes, paralyzed in a motorcycle accident, reached out to touch hands with his girlfriend.

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The way our arms naturally move and interact with the environment around us is due to more than just thinking and moving the right muscles. We are able to differentiate between a piece of cake and a soda can through touch, picking up the cake more gently than the can. The constant feedback we receive from the sense of touch is of paramount importance as it tells the brain where to move and by how much.

For Dr. Gaunt and the rest of the research team developed and refined their system such that inputs from the robotic arm are transmitted through a microelectrode array implanted in the brain where the neurons that control hand movement and touch are located.

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Through a surgery four tiny microelectrode arrays each about half the size of a shirt button was implanted in Nathan Copeland’s brain. Prior to the surgery, imaging techniques were used to identify the exact regions in Mr. Copeland's brain corresponding to feelings in each of his fingers and his palm.

"I can feel just about every finger--it's a really weird sensation," Mr. Copeland said about a month after surgery. "Sometimes it feels electrical and sometimes its pressure, but for the most part, I can tell most of the fingers with definite precision. It feels like my fingers are getting touched or pushed."

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Mr. Copeland can feel pressure and distinguish its intensity to some extent, though he cannot identify whether a substance is hot or cold, explains Dr. Tyler-Kabara.

"Slowly but surely, we have been moving this research forward. Four years ago we demonstrated control of movement. Now Dr. Gaunt and his team took what we learned in our tests with Tim and Jan--for whom we have deep gratitude--and showed us how to make the robotic arm allow its user to feel through Nathan's dedicated work," said Dr. Michael Boninger, M.D., professor of physical medicine and rehabilitation at Pitt, and senior medical director of post-acute care for the Health Services Division of UPMC and a co-author on the research paper.

Dr. Gaunt explained that everything about the work is meant to make use of the brain's natural, existing abilities to give people back what was lost but not forgotten.

"The ultimate goal is to create a system which moves and feels just like a natural arm would," says Dr. Gaunt. "We have a long way to go to get there, but this is a great start."

Source-Medindia