Beckley Doctor Believes Brain Can Control Robots
Copyright 2004 Life Science Weekly via NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net
A Beckley neurologist believes people with nerve or limb injuries may one day be able to command wheelchairs, prosthetics and even paralyzed arms and legs by “thinking them through” the motions.
“Recent experiments have indicated the possibility to use the brain’s electrical activity to directly control the movement of robotics or prosthetic devices,” said Iraj Derakhshan, MD, who also has an office in Charleston.
Derakhshan said he predicts this technology will also be widely used in business and industry settings as well.
“There is a growing interest in the use of physiological signals for communication and operation of devices for physically disabled, as well as able-bodied people,” he said. “Over the last years, evidence has accumulated to show the possibility to analyze brainwaves online in order to determine the subjects’ mental state that is then mapped into actions such as selecting a letter from a virtual keyboard or moving a robotics device.”
Recently, an owl monkey was able to control from a distant room a robotic arm purely by imagining her own arm moving through three-dimensional space, Derakhshan said.
“Both rats and monkeys whose brains have been wired to a computer have successfully controlled levers and robot arms by imagining their own limb pressing a bar,” he said. “These feats have been made possible by advances in microwires that can be implanted in the motor cortex and by the development of algorithms that translate the electrical activity of brain neurons into commands able to control mechanical devices.”
Derakhshan claims to have discovered the process that determines if a person is right-handed or left-handed. He said this discovery is vital to the success of using the brain’s electrical activity to control robotics and prosthetic devices.
“This technology could eventually help people who have lost an arm to control a robotic replacement with their mind or help patients with a spinal cord injury regain control of a paralyzed limb,” he said. “It could be used by business or industry for workers who may have hazardous jobs or jobs that show a high rate of workers becoming disabled.”
The big question is, according to the doctor, is whether a practical, reliable system can be created. He believes it can, which is one of the reasons he obtained a patent for his method and system for determining the native neurological dominant hemisphere.
“Doctors have no means by which to repair spinal cord breaks or damaged brains,” Derakhshan said. “In the distant future, neuroscientists may be able to regenerate injured neurons or program stem cells, those capable of differentiating into various cell types, to take their place. But in the near future, brain-machine interfaces (BMIs), or neuroprostheses, are a more viable option for restoring motor function. The patent was necessary because my method and system used for determining the native neurological dominant hemisphere is used for programming these devices and in surgical procedures.”
Derakhshan’s company, Mimicking Man Manually Inc. of Charleston, was assigned the patent by the U.S. Patent Office in Washington.
Derakhshan’s method and system determines which hemisphere of the brain is dominant in an individual. This system also tells if a person if right-handed or left-handed.
“This technical definition is used to completely and accurately replicate or predict voluntary movements, which in turn, can be utilized in the field of prosthetics and robotics,” he explained.
Derakhshan said he envisions that one day, almost every business in the world will be using robotics in some form or fashion.
“I (imagine) that one day all dangerous jobs will be performed by the use of robotics,” he said. “A world of little or no work-related injuries. Imagine what that would do for our struggling Workers’ Compensation system? There are so many great things that could be accomplished with this technology. It is very exciting.”
Derakhshan is also a diplomat of the American Board of Psychiatry & Neurology and has had several articles published in various medical and neurological journals and publications.
Copyright 2004 Life Science Weekly via NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net
Copyright © 2002 LexisNexis, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc.
