A team of researchers managed to develop a software program that allows writing letters and number on the screen by simply thinking about them. The new invention developed by scientists at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville can be a great step towards a new type of communication that can prove to be useful for millions of people with paralysis and various neurological conditions.
Researchers discovered that people were able to make letters appear on the display by focusing on a specific letter when it was shown with a six-by-six grid of symbols. Their new invention represents the first step towards the creation of a mind-machine interface.
During trials, two patients had electrodes placed inside their skulls right on to the surface of the brain. The electrodes were placed inside the skull with the help of an incision called craniotomy. The team used these electrodes to follow the electrical signals generated by the nerve cells when a patient focused on certain figures on the matrix, reports The Daily Telegraph.
The results of the signals were then translated by a computer that ran the new software. As soon as patients focused on a specific letter, it was shown on the display. According to the researchers, in future, devices, which would be powered by the brain, would need surgery so they could be placed inside the skull. Dr. Shih considers that soon such devices could become so small that they could be easily implanted so computers could interpret signals from the patients' brains.
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