Researchers at Ohio State University report that they have been able to recover the sense of a research participant’s hand with a severe spinal cord injury using a brain-computer interface (BCI) system. The technology applies neural signals to the participant, resulting in greatly improved motor function.
The participant in this study is Ian Burkhart, a 28-year-old man who suffered a spinal cord injury during a diving accident in 2010. Since 2014, Burkhart has been working with researchers on a project that aims to recover the function of his right arm. The system they have developed works through a system of electrodes on his skin and a small computer chip inserted into his motor cortex (the brain area that influences motor movements). This setup, which uses wires to route movement signals from the brain to the muscles, bypassing his spinal cord injury, gives Burkhart enough control over his right arm and hand to lift a coffee cup, pick up a credit card, and play Guitar Hero.
The advances in the BCI system led to important improvements. They enable Burkhart to reliably recognize something by touch alone. The system is also the first BCI that allows for recovery of movement and touch at once, and this ability to experience increased touch during movement gives him a greater sense of control and lets him do things more quickly. Finally, these improvements allow the BCI system to sense how much pressure to use when it is handling an object or picking something up.
The researchers are working on creating a next-generation sleeve containing the required electrodes and sensors that could be easily put on and taken off. They also want to improve the system that can be controlled with a tablet rather than a computer, making it smaller and much easier to carry around.
【小题1】What is the study at Ohio State University aimed at?| A．Protecting people’s spinal cord. | B．Improving one’s motor function. |
| C．Helping one’s hand regain its sense. | D．Preventing severe spinal cord injuries. |
| A．By building up his body muscles through electrodes. |
| B．By recovering the function of his injured spinal cord. |
| C．By inserting a computer chip into his injured spinal cord. |
| D．By sending movement signals directly to his arm muscles. |
| A．The advantages of the improved BCI system. | B．The improvement the BCI system needed. |
| C．The doubt about improving the BCI system. | D．The principles of improving the BCI system. |
| A．Its stability. | B．Its portability. | C．Its accuracy. | D．Its safety. |
