New implant can help restore vision in blind people

Experiments during which paralyzed people can control the automated arm "power of thought" or blind people see blurry images have already proved the great potential of computer systems that transmit and receive signals from the brain with the help of different types of implants. But being introduced matrix electrodes are used in most of these cases, after some time become useless due to the fact that around them rises shramopodobnyh tissue protective layer which degrade electric contact with electrodes of nerve cells of the brain tissue.

But next month, researchers from the School of Medicine at Harvard University will start tests on monkeys of the new implant, which does not require surgery and is installed outside the skull, in order to avoid the problem described above. And in the long term, this work could lead to the development of high-quality devices that return sight to the blind people or the possibility of movement of paralyzed patients.

The basis of the new implant is a tiny set of coils capable of joint efforts to develop a sufficiently strong magnetic field that can affect the electrical aspects of the nerve cells of certain parts of the brain. In addition to the installation of the implant on top of the skull to one of the experimental animals, the researchers will place the implant inside the same second animal skulls for comparative results.

The device will be used for magnetic stimulation of the visual area of ​​the cerebral cortex. At the same time, the computer connected to the implants will be enough to accurately simulate the signals of nervous activity, such signals transmitted from the brain optic nerve. And, unlike the implantable electrode arrays, the effectiveness of coils action should not change for the worse over time.

These projects, for up to three years, is part of a global initiative BRAIN initiative, aimed at the study of all aspects of brain activity. And the approach developed by Harvard scientists, after a time required for completion and conduct extensive testing, can be successfully used and in relation to people. In addition, this technology can be used not only in the brain, it can be applied, for example, to restore the mobility of the limbs and other body parts in the case of nerve tissue damage as a result of illness or injury.

dailytechinfo.org