(Reuters) — Powered exoskeletons that allow the paralyzed to walk are at the forefront of medical technology. Now Australian scientists are set to revolutionize the field with an ambitious new project.
They’ve invented the “stentrode,” a 3mm-wide metal device designed to access brain signals and allow patients to move artificial limbs or wheelchairs.
“This is an absolute world 1st,” said Terry O’Brien, head of the Dept. of Medicine & Neurology at Australia’s Melbourne University. “This approach hasn’t been done before. We now have a device that actually can practically be implanted and maintained over many years.”
The stentrode contains a web of small electrodes and is implanted into a blood vessel next to the brain’s motor cortex, bypassing the need for more complex brain surgery.
“We were able to develop the technique to be able to push this stent up through the blood vessels in the brain from the jugular,” explained Florey Institute of Neuroscience & Mental Health researcher Clive May.
Pre-clinical animal trials were successful. Next year patients in 2 Australian hospitals will receive the implants.
“They will think they want to do a certain movement, the limb will move in a certain way and they will, over time, be able to teach themselves what they have to think to be able to move in a particular way,” May said.
The research was part funded by the Australian government and the U.S military. If the trials succeed, the stentrode could be on the market by 2022.
Check out a video of the stentrode:
