Neuromotor Prosthetics
Introduction

A neuromotor prosthetic is a brain-machine interface that records neural activity from the brain and decodes cellular activity into a control signal, which can then be used to operate a device. This technology has many implications, the most obvious of which and the topic of this webpage is the use of neuromotor prosthetics to control computers and prosthetic limbs that would ultimately help patients with paralysis communicate with the outside world. Currently, this technology is being developed in laboratories all over the world and a very few applications have been applied in humans.

A group of researchers at Brown University have implanted an electrode array into the motor cortex of monkey brains. Complex algorithms and computers decode the brain signal recorded by the electrode and control an output device. Research literature has reported that a monkey was able to move a computer cursor purely by thinking, rather than by using its hands.  In other research, this technology has made it possible for an owl monkey's neurons to control the movement of a robotic arm.

Ultimately, it is hoped that doctors will be able to implant an array of microelectrodes into the brains of paralyzed humans which will permit them to operate a variety of output devices, despite the fact that they are without the use of their limbs. It is hoped that this will increase the quality of life for these patients by allowing them to become more independent. It is even a possibility that eventually this device will allow doctors to bypass the spinal cord itself and allow paralyzed patients to control their own muscles and limbs despite their injury.