Star Trek’s Borg have them. The Bionic Woman has them. They are computerized devices implanted into the brain. They don’t give super-human strength or the ability to see a flea a mile away in real life. But they’re not science fiction either. Currently devices either restore some degree of function to a disabled body or deliver medication when other methods of delivery prove ineffective.
I’ve had a daily mind-numbing headache for the past seven years. I’ve tried pills and radiation therapy. Yesterday a new doctor recommended implanting a neurostimulation device into my head; he said it would disrupt the “bad” impulses being fed by my nerves.
Neurostimulation devices, such as the one developed in the 1960s by Medtronics Inc. (www.medtronic.com) look like pacemakers that are implanted in the heart. They act like the TENS units that physical therapists use on sore muscles, delivering low voltage electrical impulses to block pain. They are prescribed for patients like me, who have suffered from chronic, intractable pain that hasn’t been treated effectively by other means.
Other forms of implantable devices help to restore function taken away by disease or accident.
In 2003 Brown University (www.neuroscience.brown.edu) and Cyberkinetics Neurotechnology Systems Inc. (www.cyberkineticsinc.com) began work on a device called Braingate. The computer chip monitors brain activity, searching for electrical impulses traveling on neurons, which it converts into computer commands to control either a mechanical arm or a cursor on a monitor. One of the first people to use the chip was Matthew Nagle, a quadriplegic. After the surgery, Nagle was able to control a computer mouse cursor to switch on and off several home devices.
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