Robotic arms and other robotic instruments may sound like a futuristic development, but they have been around for years, helping out surgeons and engineers alike. Less common, though, are prosthetic, robotic arms that allow people who have lost a limb to regain freedom of movement.
Recently, however, researchers have accomplished a groundbreaking new technological feat by developing the first-ever noninvasive mind-controlled robotic arm. While similar technology has been available for some time, it involved inserting a brain implant in patients, making it a risky, invasive and quite expensive procedure.
To build the novel technology, scientists from Carnegie Mellon and the University of Minnesota have used specialized sensing and machine learning techniques to build up a reliable connection between the brain and a robotic arm. The team’s noninvasive brain-computer interface successfully decoded neural signals, allowing a person, for the first time, to control a robotic arm in real time, instructing it to continuously and smoothly follow the movements of a cursor on a screen.
The success of these preliminary trials has given the scientists hope that they will eventually be able to bring this technology to the individuals who need it.
