Brain implant senses ‘intent’ to move robotic arm

MIND CONTROLLED PROSTHETICS: Erik Sorto using a robotic arm that is not attached to his body, controlled by his thoughts, to operate a blender in Los Angeles, California on March 28, 2014.

MIAMI: A new kind of brain implant senses a patient’s intent to move a robotic arm, offering new promise to people who are paralysed or have lost limbs, researchers said. 

Erik Sorto, 34, is “the first person in the world to have a neural prosthetic device implanted in a region of the brain where intentions are made,” said the study in the journal Science.