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Brain chips could aid the blind, paralysed. Nov 24 2011, by Belinda Tasker.Could a tiny silicon chip hold the key to helping paraplegics stand and restore
sight to the blind? A visiting American scientist thinks so.Prof Richard Normann, of the University of Utah's school of medicine, is the man
behind the chip which could transform millions of people's lives.Known as the Utah Electrode Array, the device is designed to restore function in
people's damaged or diseased nervous systems so they can stand, see or even control their bladders again. While it has mainly been tested in animals, the results have been promising.Anaesthetised cats with implanted chips have been able to stand while monkeys
have had improved vision. Prof Normann hopes to carry out extensive tests with paraplegics and blindpeople within the next two years, as long as he can convince regulatory authorities.
"If we can make an anaesthetised cat stand by appropriate stimulation we are pretty confident we can extend the technology to humans," he said.The array has 100 tiny needle-like electrodes sticking up from its square surface.
When implanted in the nervous system the electrodes communicate with damaged nerves.
For a blind person, the theory is if a chip is implanted in the visual cortex of the brain it stimulates the eye so the person can see enough to read and find
their way in familiar area. The concept is similar for wheelchair-bound people, who often suffer from problems caused by painful ulcers because they are unable to stand.Arrays implanted in the femoral and sciatic nerves stimulate the muscles in the
hip, legs and ankles to enable a paralysed patient to stand."When we do this in anaesthetised cats, the animal goes through a normal stance
procedure," Prof Normann said. "So what's really cool about this is that we're doing it in a physiological fashion."Prof Normann also believes the arrays can help paralysed and older people regain
control of their bladder by stimulating the right nerves. He has been developing his array technology for more than a decade.The first time an array was implanted in a paralysed patient's brain was in 2004.
The device enabled the patient to control a cursor on a computer screen by simply thinking about the movement.However the process involved having dozens of wires poking out of the patient's
skull. Work is underway on developing a wireless array.Prof Normann discussed his research at the International Conference on Medical
Bionics held on Victoria's Phillip Island this week. Source URL: http://news.ninemsn.com.au/health/8379247/brain-chips-could-aid-the-blind-paralysed ---------- To send a message to the list, send any message to blindza@xxxxxxxxxxxxx ---------- To unsubscribe from this list, send a message to blindza-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with 'unsubscribe' in the subject line --- The 'homepage' for this list is at http://www.blindza.co.za
