/ News
Non-invasive brain-machine interface gets a grip on bionic hand control
A team of researchers from the University of Houston (UH) has developed an algorithm that enabled a man whose right hand had been amputated to grasp objects using a bionic hand controlled by his thoughts. While we've seen similar accomplishments in recent years, the new technique is non-invasive, capturing brain activity via a scalp EEG.
Research developments in recent years have given amputees much cause for hope with various thought-controlled prosthetic devices. Some have relied on surgically implanted electrodes, while others make use of electrical signals from muscles (known as myoelectric control).
But Jose Luis Contreras-Vidal, a neuroscientist and engineer at UH points out that such methods have their disadvantages. Surgery, particularly neurosurgery, is a risky business, while myoelectric systems require the brain activity from muscles related to the missing limb still be intact.
In an effort to avoid these problems, UH researchers attached electrodes of a 64-channel active EEG (electroencephalogram) to the scalps of five able-bodied, right-handed men and women in their 20s. These volunteers were then tasked with picking up five different objects – a soda can, a compact disc, a credit card, a small coin and a screwdriver – each intended to illustrate a different type of grasp. The data collected data was then used to create software to decode neural activity into motor signals that reconstructed the grasping movements.
The scalp EEG was then fitted to a 56-year-old man whose right hand had been amputated and a high-tech bionic hand fitted to the remaining stump. After being told to observe and visualize himself controlling the hand, he was able to grasp the various objects using his thoughts with an 80 percent success rate.
Contreras-Vidal says a delay of 50 to 90 milliseconds between the time the signals were recorded by the EEG and when the bionic hand began to grasp indicated that the brain predicted the movement, rather than reflected it.
The researchers claim this is the first time grasping has been demonstrated using EEG-based brain-machine interface (BMI) control of a multi-fingered prosthetic hand, with Contreras-Vidal saying it could lead to the development of better prosthetic devices.
Furthermore, the researchers say the study provides new insights into the neuroscience of grasping, which could find applications for the rehabilitation of other injuries, such as stroke and spinal cord injury.
Although similar success rates have been achieved with surgically implanted electrodes and myoelectric control systems, Contreras-Vidal says that refinements to the algorithm and additional practice could increase the success rate to 100 percent.
The team's research appears in the journal Frontiers in Neuroscience.
Source: University of Houston
Source: http://www.gizmag.com/bionic-hand-eeg-bmi-control/36829/
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Founded by Russian entrepreneur Dmitry Itskov in February 2011 with the participation of leading Russian specialists in the field of neural interfaces, robotics, artificial organs and systems.
The main goals of the 2045 Initiative: the creation and realization of a new strategy for the development of humanity which meets global civilization challenges; the creation of optimale conditions promoting the spiritual enlightenment of humanity; and the realization of a new futuristic reality based on 5 principles: high spirituality, high culture, high ethics, high science and high technologies.
The main science mega-project of the 2045 Initiative aims to create technologies enabling the transfer of a individual’s personality to a more advanced non-biological carrier, and extending life, including to the point of immortality. We devote particular attention to enabling the fullest possible dialogue between the world’s major spiritual traditions, science and society.
A large-scale transformation of humanity, comparable to some of the major spiritual and sci-tech revolutions in history, will require a new strategy. We believe this to be necessary to overcome existing crises, which threaten our planetary habitat and the continued existence of humanity as a species. With the 2045 Initiative, we hope to realize a new strategy for humanity's development, and in so doing, create a more productive, fulfilling, and satisfying future.
The "2045" team is working towards creating an international research center where leading scientists will be engaged in research and development in the fields of anthropomorphic robotics, living systems modeling and brain and consciousness modeling with the goal of transferring one’s individual consciousness to an artificial carrier and achieving cybernetic immortality.
An annual congress "The Global Future 2045" is organized by the Initiative to give platform for discussing mankind's evolutionary strategy based on technologies of cybernetic immortality as well as the possible impact of such technologies on global society, politics and economies of the future.
Future prospects of "2045" Initiative for society
2015-2020
The emergence and widespread use of affordable android "avatars" controlled by a "brain-computer" interface. Coupled with related technologies “avatars’ will give people a number of new features: ability to work in dangerous environments, perform rescue operations, travel in extreme situations etc.
Avatar components will be used in medicine for the rehabilitation of fully or partially disabled patients giving them prosthetic limbs or recover lost senses.
2020-2025
Creation of an autonomous life-support system for the human brain linked to a robot, ‘avatar’, will save people whose body is completely worn out or irreversibly damaged. Any patient with an intact brain will be able to return to a fully functioning bodily life. Such technologies will greatly enlarge the possibility of hybrid bio-electronic devices, thus creating a new IT revolution and will make all kinds of superimpositions of electronic and biological systems possible.
2030-2035
Creation of a computer model of the brain and human consciousness with the subsequent development of means to transfer individual consciousness onto an artificial carrier. This development will profoundly change the world, it will not only give everyone the possibility of cybernetic immortality but will also create a friendly artificial intelligence, expand human capabilities and provide opportunities for ordinary people to restore or modify their own brain multiple times. The final result at this stage can be a real revolution in the understanding of human nature that will completely change the human and technical prospects for humanity.
2045
This is the time when substance-independent minds will receive new bodies with capacities far exceeding those of ordinary humans. A new era for humanity will arrive! Changes will occur in all spheres of human activity – energy generation, transportation, politics, medicine, psychology, sciences, and so on.
Today it is hard to imagine a future when bodies consisting of nanorobots will become affordable and capable of taking any form. It is also hard to imagine body holograms featuring controlled matter. One thing is clear however: humanity, for the first time in its history, will make a fully managed evolutionary transition and eventually become a new species. Moreover, prerequisites for a large-scale expansion into outer space will be created as well.
Key elements of the project in the future
• International social movement
• social network immortal.me
• charitable foundation "Global Future 2045" (Foundation 2045)
• scientific research centre "Immortality"
• business incubator
• University of "Immortality"
• annual award for contribution to the realization of the project of "Immortality”.
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