BRAIN IMPLANT [ back to What's New ]
Neurosurgeon Roy Bakay of Emory has successfully implanted a device in the brain of one stroke patient and one ALS patient, which permitted them to move a cursor on a lap top computer to language based icons merely by willing the cursor to move. The device (a tiny sensor in a glass case) was inserted in the motor cortex where it picked up movement commands and sent them to receiver in the skin and an amplifier in the scalp. The device was invented by Dr. Phillip Kennedy who worked with scientists at Emory University and the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta. With practice, and some mechanical fine tuning of the device, both patients achieved success in establishing limited communication of words and phrases. Both patients were paralyzed and unable to speak or move their limbs. This device has the potential to end isolation and "open up whole new worlds" for patients with aphasia and/or paralysis.