The Terminator of Prosthetics

If you are an avid Grey’s Anatomy fan (like myself), you probably know about the whole collaboration between Dr. Derek Shepherd and Dr. Callie Torres to create brain sensors that can functionally move a motorized prosthetic. The Shepherd-Torres sensors have come alive. Physicians and biomedical engineers from the John Hopkins University have reported what seems like a successful attempt to wiggle fingers using these sensors in an epilepsy patient. These brain sensors required little training on the patient’s part; the patient thought about moving his finger, the corresponding finger on the prosthetic moved as well.

“The patient’s neurosurgeon placed an array of 128 electrode sensors, all on a single rectangular sheet of film the size of a credit card, on the part of the brain that controls hand and arm movement.”

 

Illustration of the electrode array on the patient’s brain. Credit: Guy Hotson 

To get to this stage of prosthetic finger movement, a lot of preliminary analysis needed to be done. After the sensors were placed on the patient’s brain, scientists recorded and mapped what parts of the brain “lit up” with each movement, according to the sensor, then used this motor and sensory data to program the prosthetic arm. When the patient thought about moving his fingers, the electrical activity in the brain caused the fingers on the prosthetic to move, turning the electrode sensors into the ultimate mind-reading machines. This technology can eventually help people who have lost an arm or leg due to injury disease to have some increased mobility.

Even though the researchers at John Hopkins have made a huge advancement towards creating a mobilized prosthetic, they are still a long way from creating a device for clinical use. The sensors and prosthetic duo was used on a patient that is not missing any limbs, so the outcome of the same experiment may differ with an amputee. Hopefully, in a few years, researchers will have tested whether the sensors work efficiently with amputees and have developed a useable variation of the prosthetic. I am completely fascinated by this development in prosthetics, not only because a variation of this project was in one of my favorite shows, but also because there are many people in the world today that would be overcome with joy if the sensor-prosthetic duo becomes real. There are over 100,000 people in the United States alone with amputated hand or arms. Imagine how tremendous of an impact these sensors can cause in the lives of many who thought that nothing was to come after losing arm or hand.

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“We're just starting to learn the extent of the brain's connections. How far they reach, how deep they go. But we know that every connection matters. Every connection is crucial and when one is broken, it usually means some damage has been done. This system of connections compels us to act and choose and behave."  – Dr. Derek Shepherd, Grey's Anatomy

Sources:

Geggel, Laura. "Whoa! Mind-Controlled Arm Lets Man Move Prosthetic Fingers." LiveScience.

         TechMedia Network, 16 Feb. 2016. Web. 17 Feb. 2016.

"Mind Controlled Prosthetic Arm Moves Individual Fingers." Neuroscience News. 16 Feb. 2016. 

          Web. 17 Feb. 2016.