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Researchers report that monkeys fed themselves using robotic arms controlled mentally?no joystick required. The findings, reported today in Nature, suggest that patients with neuromuscular disorders, spinal cord injuries or lost limbs may one day be able to use their own brain power to operate prosthetics to carry out routine tasks.
"The animals used the device in a very natural way, making smooth, coordinated movements that look pretty natural," says Schwartz. "They were reaching for small pieces of food in a very precise way."
In fact, the monkeys were successful at grabbing and eating the food nearly 61 percent of the time, he says. Schwartz says that he had hoped they would have a better success rate, but noted that the results compared favorably to similar studies where both monkeys and humans move objects in virtual environments.
Kalaska says that although the new work is encouraging, there are hurdles to overcome before humans can use so-called neuroprosthetic limbs. A major challenge is to design more durable electrodes because the current crop degrade within weeks of implantation. Another limitation: current prosthetics cannot control the force with which they grip things, which means that a glass, for instance, might be shattered when handled. Schwartz says the team now plans to research ways to build more accurate prosthetic, with a wrist joint and a more humanlike hand.