Thanks to a brain implant, a paralyzed Australian is now able to chat on social networks.
A 62-year-old Australian man with amytrophic lateral sclerosis, better known as Charcot’s disease, is able, thanks to innovative technology, to translate his thoughts into tweets. In April 2020, Philip O’Keefe, almost completely paralyzed by the progression of his disease, received a brain implant dubbed Stentrode BC. This small electrode designed by neurologist Thomas Oxley, creator of the company Synchron CEO, was implanted without even resorting to surgery, passing through the jugular artery. Once in place near the cortex, he can record neural information and send it to a wireless antenna implanted in his chest, which then relays it to an external receiver. This is how Philip O’Keefe was able to share on Thomas Oxley’s account his first thought-out tweet: “Hello, world! Short tweet. Monumental progress. ” (Hey, world! A little tweet for monumental progress.)
Bonjour Monde! Short tweet. Monumental progress.
– Thomas Oxley (@tomoxl) December 23, 2021
For Philip, this brain-computer interface is a revolution and a liberation: “When I heard about this technology for the first time, I knew how much it could give me back my lost independence, he explains in a communicated. “The system is amazing, it’s like learning to ride a bike – it takes practice, but once you ride it becomes natural. Now I just have to think about where I want to click, and I can email, do banking, shop, and now send messages to the world through Twitter. ”
Also read:Ian Burkhart regains motor skills in his arm thanks to an implant
After having obtained the authorization of the medical authorities, Synchron CEO will be able to generalize the experimentation of the Stentrode Brain-Computer on other volunteers before a marketing which is fast approaching.
Any reproduction prohibited