7 Healthcast: Brain breakthrough

A spinal cord injury left 26-year-old Matt Nagle paralyzed in his four limbs.

"I went a long time, two and a half years with no hope," Nagle said.

But then Matt learned about a new device that could offer him more independence. It allows a paralyzed person to perform tasks just by thinking about them. But, the device had never been tried on a person before, so Matt volunteered.

"They asked me to do it and I didn't hesitate," Nagle said.

Here's how the braingate system works. A small sensor is implanted in the motor cortex…which is the part of the brain that controls movement. Wires from the sensor attach to a pedestal on the head that sends brain signals to a computer for interpretation. In effect, to figure out what the person is thinking. Matt can move a computer cursor to check email or turn on his T.V., just by thinking about it.

And that's not all. Using the braingate system Matt was able to draw circular shapes, play simple video games and use a robotic limb to grasp and move objects.

The brain implant was removed from matt after a year. Researchers are pleased with the results.

"It suggests the motor cortex continues to work, to be active, and continues to do many of the same things it did before the spinal cord injury," Dr. Leigh Hochberg, of Massachusetts General Hospital said.

As for Matt, he hopes this study will inspire other disabled people for the future.

"Hold on…hold on to hope," Nagle said.

Studies on the brain device are on-going. The braingate device was developed by Cyberkinetics in Foxborough. The company also funded this study which is in the current issue of Nature.

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