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Implant translates brain signals into movement

Implant translates brain signals from two paralyzed patients into control of a robotic arm, fueling hope of independence

By Carolyn Y. Johnson

 |  Globe Staff  

  May 16, 2012

On Wednesday, a team led by scientists from the US Department of Veterans Affairs in Providence and Brown University revealed that two patients had been able to use their minds to control a robotic hand, successfully touching and grasping objects in repeated trials. The feat, reported in the journal Nature, was part of an ongoing clinical trial of the BrainGate, an experimental, pill-sized device covered in electrodes that is implanted in the brain to read brain cells’ activity.

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