US scientists have developed a machine that enables people to navigate a robotic wheelchair through their thoughts. ‘In some severely disabled people even blinking is not possible’ said Miguel Nicolelis a neuroscientist at Duke University. ‘For them using a wheelchair or device controlled by non-invasive measures like an EEG (a device that monitors brain waves through electrodes on the scalp) may not be sufficient’ he said. ‘We show clearly that if you have intracranial implants you get better control of a wheelchair than with non-invasive devices’ he added. The researchers used a computer to monitor brain signals from a rhesus macaque.
