B-16. Artificial neural connection using a computer interface

Publication date: May 2018
Source:Clinical Neurophysiology, Volume 129, Issue 5
Author(s): Yukio Nishimura
Functional loss of limb control in individuals with spinal cord injury or stroke can be caused by transection of descending pathways those connects cortical to spinal network, although neural circuits locate above and below the impaired site remains their function. I will show an artificial neuronal connection (ANC) that bridges supra-spinal system and spinal network beyond the lesion site restore lost function. The ANC was produced by a computer interface that can detect the neural activity and converted in real-time to activity-contingent electrical stimuli delivered to nervous system. A promising application is to bridge impaired biological connections, a paradigm that was demonstrated for cortically controlled electrical stimulation of paralyzed forearm muscles. ANC have clinical potential for restoring walking ability in patients with spinal cord injury. A clinical application of the ANC is the volitional walking in could be restored by muscle-controlled non-invasive magnetic stimulation to lumbar spinal cord. Patients with severe SCI could regain voluntarily-controlled walking which are initiate, stop walking and change the step cycles through ANC. These paradigms have numerous potential applications, depending on the input signals, the computed transform and the output targets.



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