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Abstract Objective. Brain–machine interfaces (BMIs) have shown promise in extracting upper extremity movement intention from the thoughts of nonhuman primates and people with tetraplegia. Attempts to restore a user’s own hand and arm function have employed functional electrical stimulation (FES), but most work has restored discrete grasps. Little is known about how well FES can control continuous finger movements. Here, we use a low-power brain-controlled functional electrical stimulation (BCFES) system to restore continuous volitional control of finger positions to a monkey with a temporarily paralyzed hand. Approach. We delivered a nerve block to the median, radial, and ulnar nerves just proximal to the elbow to simulate finger paralysis, then used a closed-loop BMI to predict finger movements the monkey was attempting to make in two tasks. The BCFES task was one-dimensional in which all fingers moved together, and we used the BMI’s predictions to control FES of the monkey’s finger muscles. The virtual two-finger task was two-dimensional in which the index finger moved simultaneously and independently from the middle, ring, and small fingers, and we used the BMI’s predictions to control movements of virtual fingers, with no FES. Main results. In the BCFES task, the monkey improved his success rate to 83% (1.5 s median acquisition time) when using the BCFES system during temporary paralysis from 8.8% (9.5 s median acquisition time, equal to the trial timeout) when attempting to use his temporarily paralyzed hand. In one monkey performing the virtual two-finger task with no FES, we found BMI performance (task success rate and completion time) could be completely recovered following temporary paralysis by executing recalibrated feedback-intention training one time. Significance. These results suggest that BCFES can restore continuous finger function during temporary paralysis using existing low-power technologies and brain-control may not be the limiting factor in a BCFES neuroprosthesis.
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The Implications of Neuralink and Brain Machine Interface Technologies
Brain machine interfaces (BMI) have traditionally been considered for medical prosthetics. They are now being presented as a means to “merge with the AI”. Entrepreneur Elon Musk has begun trialing his Neuralink technology on pigs, and hopes to incorporate human subjects into his clinical trials of a “breakthrough technology” before year end. Independent of the technology’s success to continue through the medical innovation process via the US Food and Drug Administration, it is time to be pondering the social implications of this novel technology. This paper points to some of the questions philosophers and practitioners alike are asking about the potential for BMI.
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- Award ID(s):
- 1828010
- PAR ID:
- 10277403
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- 2020 IEEE International Symposium on Technology and Society (ISTAS)
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- 201 to 203
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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- Free Publicly Accessible Full Text
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Accepted Manuscript1.0
- Conference Paper:
- https://doi.org/10.1109/ISTAS50296.2020.9462223
