Stroke patient plays Pong by thought with CorTec's rehabilitation implant
The same fully implanted Brain Interchange device used to stimulate the brain for stroke recovery also decoded the participant's intentions to control a computer.
German company CorTec says the first participant in a University of Washington stroke study has controlled a computer by thought alone, using the same implant that delivers his rehabilitation therapy.
The study
The participant is in an NIH-funded early feasibility study of CorTec’s Brain Interchange, a fully implanted, wireless system with electrodes resting on the brain’s surface. Its main job in the study is stimulating the brain to support recovery of arm movement after stroke.
Nine months after implantation, researchers also used the device to read his brain activity. According to CorTec, he learned to play the video game Pong within about two hours, with no change to the implant and no extra surgery. The company also reports more than 500 days of stable operation.
Why it matters
Most implants either stimulate the brain (like deep brain stimulation) or record from it (like most BCIs). A device that does both in the same person, with the same hardware, points toward closed-loop systems that combine therapy and assistive control. The result comes from one participant and was reported by the company, so larger studies are needed.
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