Man paralyzed in accident from shoulders down can now feed himself, drink water -- even scratch his nose

PROVIDENCE, R.I. In another dramatic breakthrough for BrainGate, the neuroscience consortium that includes Brown University and the Providence VA Medical Center, new technology has allowed a man paralyzed from the shoulders down to move his arm and hand again. He can now feed himself, drink water from a mug -- and even scratch his nose.

For somebody whos been injured eight years and couldnt move, being able to move just that little bit is awesome to me, said the man, Bill Kochevar, 56, who suffered a severe spinal cord injury in a bicycling accident. Its better than I thought it would be.

Kochevar achieved these abilities with the use of BrainGates investigational brain-computer interface in combination with a the consortiums so-called functional electronic stimulation system, which was implanted in the Cleveland mans arm.

The advance is deemed so significant that it is featured this week on the online edition of The Lancet, one of the worlds leading medical journals, published since 1823.

Its so inspiring to watch Mr. Kochevar move his own arm and hand just by thinking about it, said Dr. Leigh Hochberg, a study co-author and director of the BrainGate2 pilot clinical trial. As an extraordinary participant in this research, hes teaching us how to design a new generation of neurotechnologies that we all hope will one day restore mobility and independence for people with paralysis.

The technology works by detecting neural signals acquired from electrodes implanted in the surface of the motor cortex of the brain," according to Brown.Those signals are translated by the collaborations algorithms into movement commands for assistive devices. In the new research, the movement commands were relayed to a functional electronic stimulation system that electrically stimulated Kochevars muscles, allowing him to bypass his injury and once again deliver his brains motion plan to his arm.

The BrainGate consortium also includes Case Western Reserve University, which led the latest research, Stanford University and Massachusetts General Hospital.

In February, the team announced another ground-breaking development: technology that allowed three people with paralysis to type using only brain control.

As with the development reported in February in the journal eLife, Hochberg said more work remains before the technology that benefitted Kochevar could be available to more people.

While todays exciting report was made possible by incredible team science and vital federal funding for fundamental, translational and clinical research, these are still just the first steps, he said. Watching him move his hand again reminds me of the enormous potential for research to provide the new insights and technologies that will reduce the burden of neurologic disease and restore function.

WATCH a video of Kochevar using his arm and hand and talking about the accident that left him a quadriplegic.

gwmiller@providencejournal.com

(401) 277-7380

@GWayneMiller

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Another neuroscience breakthrough from Brown, VA BrainGate partnership - The Providence Journal