Researchers Develop Brain-Controlled Prosthetic Legs

 Bionics

Researchers have successfully demonstrated a pair of robotic legs controlled by the user's brain, potentially opening the door for new types of bionic prostheses for paraplegic people. The device uses a cap to measure EEG signals from the brain, translating them into control signals for the robotic limbs.

Ateam of researchers at the University of California, Irvine, had published a paper describing a mind-controlled leg prothesis. The legs were tested on an anonymous, able-bodied man, who was able to use them to walk and stop for 30 seconds at a time over the course of 10 minutes. Because the device is mind-operated, instead of the other methods used by prostheses, the legs can potentially be used by fully paralyzed patients

This may be the first step towards developing a biomechanical means to restore able-bodied-like ambulation after spinal cord injury.

In previous work, the researchers developed a way of using EEG signals to control the walking motion of an avatar in a virtual environment.

For the current device, an EEG signal is fed to brain-computer interface (BCI) computer, which then controls a robotic gait orthosis (RoGO), which stimulates leg muscles.

The BCI RoGO System, is still in the early stages of development. For instance, it takes about five seconds for it to start and seven seconds for it to stop, which could be a problem if a person is in a crowded area or standing next to a steep cliff.

Also, the suit can only identify when a user wants to stop or start walking. It cannot do any of the other things that we take for granted with our legs, like sitting or even speeding up our gait. It also sometimes succumbs to "false starts," starting to move even though the user did not will it to do so.

Future work is necessary to test this system in individuals with spinal cord injury paraplegia. Since spinal cord injury users are able to operate the BCI-walking simulator, it is expected that they can readily transfer their skills to the BCI-RoGO system.



SOURCE  Medical Daily

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