Like Avatar plot, man moves mechanical arm with thoughts   

中国首次成功在脑中植入电极用意念控制机械手臂

2年前，浙江大学成功提取并破译了猴子大脑关于抓、勾、握、捏四种手势的神经信号，使得一只名为“建辉”的猴子如同《阿凡达》中的钢铁战士一样，通过“意念”控制一只机械手进行不同的动作。2年后，在此研究成功基础上，中国首次用病人颅内植入电极意念控制机械手，并成功完成高难度的肢体运动。这一研究，使得脑机接口技术的临床应用向前迈进了一大步，已基本达到世界最高层次。[查看全文]

(ECNS) -- Pioneering research at Zhejiang University has enabled a man to use his thoughts to move a mechanical arm, offering hope to people needing artificial limbs, chinanews.com reported.

Zheng Xiaoxiang, leading professor of a bio-medical research program at Qiushi Academy for Advanced Studies, announced on Monday that they had succeeded in capturing and deciphering the signals from a patient's brain and interpreting them into real-time robotic finger movements with 80 percent accuracy.

Zhang Jianmin, a neurosurgeon at the Second Affiliated Hospital of the Zhejiang University School of Medicine, said they have implanted a micro-electrode measuring four centimeters long and eight centimeters wide into the brain of a patient who has epilepsy.

But the current technology only allows the micro-electrode to stay in a human's brain for less than a month, he added.

There's a long way to go before the microchips can help humans regain control of their limbs, but it definitely will be a blessing for paralyzed people and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) patients, an expert said.

Two years ago, the team implanted a microchip into a monkey, allowing the animal to use its mind to prompt a mechanical arm to reach out and grab food and drinks.

In James Cameron's sci-fi blockbuster Avatar, a paralyzed soldier uses a computer to control a body remotely.