Device harnessing thoughts allows quadriplegic to use his hands .

An Ohio man paralyzed in an accident while diving in waves can now pick up a bottle or play the video game Guitar Hero thanks to a small computer chip in his brain that lets his mind guide his hands and fingers, bypassing his damaged spinal cord. Scientists on Wednesday described accomplishments achieved by 24-year-old quadriplegic Ian Burkhart using an implanted chip that relays signals from his brain through 130 electrodes on his forearm to produce muscle movement in his hands and fingers. Burkhart first demonstrated the “neural bypass” technology in 2014 when he was able simply to open and close his hand. But the scientists, in research published in the journal Nature, said he can now perform multiple useful tasks with more sophisticated hand and finger movements. The technology, which for now can only be used in the laboratory, is being perfected with an eye toward a wireless system without the need for a cable running from the head to relay brain signals. “This study marks the first time that a person living with paralysis has regained movement by using signals recorded from within the brain,” said bioelectronic medicine researcher Chad Bouton of the New York-based Feinstein Institute for Medical Research, who worked on the study at the Battelle Memorial Institute in Ohio. Burkhart said the technology lets him function like “a normal member of society.” The technology potentially could help people not only after spinal cord injuries but after strokes or traumatic brain injuries, Bouton added. Burkhart, a former lacrosse goalie, suffered a broken neck and spinal cord damage at age 19 diving into a wave ( http://newsdaily.com/2016/04/device-harnessing-thoughts-allows-quadriplegic-to-use-his-hands/#MXp5F33Tom2uXhRI.99) Surgeons implanted the pea-sized chip into his motor cortex, which controls voluntary muscular activity. The chip, connected to a cable running from his head to a sleeve containing the electrodes wrapped around his forearm, sends brain signals that stimulate muscles controlling the hands and fingers. Burkhart, with six wrist and hand motions, could rotate his hand, make a fist, pinch his fingers together, grasp objects like a bottle, spoon and telephone, swipe a credit card and play the video game simulating guitar strumming. Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center neurosurgeon Ali Rezai called the results a “milestone in the evolution of brain-computer interface technology.” Burkhart said “Things are kind of moving along better than I imagined,” B

NEW STEM CELL REPAIR SYSTEM.

Stem cell therapies capable of regenerating any human tissue damaged by injury, disease or ageing developed following landmark research led by UNSW Australia researchers.The UNSW-led research has been published today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences journal. The repair system, similar to the method used by salamanders to regenerate limbs, could be used to repair everything from spinal discs to bone fractures, and has the potential to transform current treatment approaches to regenerative medicine. The Study lead author, haematologist and UNSW Associate Professor John Pimanda, said the new technique, which reprograms bone and fat cells into induced multi-potent stem cells (iMS), has been successfully demonstrated in mice. The team are currently assessing whether adult human fat cells reprogrammed into iMS cells can safely repair damaged tissue in mice, with human trials expected to begin in late 2017. There are different types of stem cells including embryonic stem (ES) cells, which during embryonic development generate every type of cell in the human body, and adult stem cells, which are tissue-specific. There are no adult stem cells that regenerate multiple tissue types. "This technique is ground-breaking because iMS cells regenerate multiple tissue types," Associate Professor Pimanda said. "We have taken bone and fat cells, switched off their memory and converted them into stem cells so they can repair different cell types once they are put back inside the body." The technique developed by UNSW researchers involves extracting adult human fat cells and treating them with the compound 5-Azacytidine (AZA), along with platelet-derived growth factor-AB (PDGF-AB) for approximately two days. The cells are then treated with the growth factor alone for a further two-three weeks. AZA is known to induce cell plasticity, which is crucial for reprogramming cells. The AZA compound relaxes the hard-wiring of the cell, which is expanded by the growth factor, transforming the bone and fat cells into iMS cells. When the stem cells are inserted into the damaged tissue site, they multiply, promoting growth and healing. The new technique is similar to salamander limb regeneration, which is also dependent on the plasticity of differentiated cells, which can repair multiple tissue types, depending on which body part needs replacing. The therapy has enormous potential for treating back and neck pain, spinal disc injury, joint and muscle degeneration and could also speed up recovery following complex surgeries where bones and joints need to integrate with the body. Research shows that up to 20% of spinal implants either don't heal or there is delayed healing. The rates are higher for smokers, older people and patients with diseases such diabetes or kidney disease.Spinal implants currently used to replace damaged or troubled discs don't always weld with the adjacent bones, so by transplanting these reprogrammed stem cells,it will fuse these implants better to the host bone.