Hemiparesis,or unilateral paresis,is weakness of one entire side of the body. Hemiplegia is,in its most severe form,complete paralysis of half of the body. Hemiparesis and hemiplegia can be caused by different medical conditions,including congenital causes,trauma,tumors,or stroke.
Spasticity is a feature of altered skeletal muscle performance with a combination of paralysis,increased tendon reflex activity,and hypertonia. It is also colloquially referred to as an unusual "tightness",stiffness,or "pull" of muscles.
Paraplegia,or paraparesis,is an impairment in motor or sensory function of the lower extremities. The word comes from Ionic Greek (παραπληγίη) "half-stricken". It is usually caused by spinal cord injury or a congenital condition that affects the neural (brain) elements of the spinal canal. The area of the spinal canal that is affected in paraplegia is either the thoracic,lumbar,or sacral regions. If four limbs are affected by paralysis,tetraplegia or quadriplegia is the correct term. If only one limb is affected,the correct term is monoplegia. Spastic paraplegia is a form of paraplegia defined by spasticity of the affected muscles,rather than flaccid paralysis.
A brain–computer interface (BCI),sometimes called a brain–machine interface (BMI) or smartbrain,is a direct communication pathway between the brain's electrical activity and an external device,most commonly a computer or robotic limb. BCIs are often directed at researching,mapping,assisting,augmenting,or repairing human cognitive or sensory-motor functions. They are often conceptualized as a human–machine interface that skips the intermediary component of the physical movement of body parts,although they also raise the possibility of the erasure of the discreteness of brain and machine. Implementations of BCIs range from non-invasive and partially invasive to invasive,based on how close electrodes get to brain tissue.
Functional electrical stimulation (FES) is a technique that uses low-energy electrical pulses to artificially generate body movements in individuals who have been paralyzed due to injury to the central nervous system. More specifically,FES can be used to generate muscle contraction in otherwise paralyzed limbs to produce functions such as grasping,walking,bladder voiding and standing. This technology was originally used to develop neuroprostheses that were implemented to permanently substitute impaired functions in individuals with spinal cord injury (SCI),head injury,stroke and other neurological disorders. In other words,a person would use the device each time he or she wanted to generate a desired function. FES is sometimes also referred to as neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES).
Brain implants,often referred to as neural implants,are technological devices that connect directly to a biological subject's brain –usually placed on the surface of the brain,or attached to the brain's cortex. A common purpose of modern brain implants and the focus of much current research is establishing a biomedical prosthesis circumventing areas in the brain that have become dysfunctional after a stroke or other head injuries. This includes sensory substitution,e.g.,in vision. Other brain implants are used in animal experiments simply to record brain activity for scientific reasons. Some brain implants involve creating interfaces between neural systems and computer chips. This work is part of a wider research field called brain–computer interfaces.
Neuroprosthetics is a discipline related to neuroscience and biomedical engineering concerned with developing neural prostheses. They are sometimes contrasted with a brain–computer interface,which connects the brain to a computer rather than a device meant to replace missing biological functionality.
Neural engineering is a discipline within biomedical engineering that uses engineering techniques to understand,repair,replace,or enhance neural systems. Neural engineers are uniquely qualified to solve design problems at the interface of living neural tissue and non-living constructs.
Neurorobotics is the combined study of neuroscience,robotics,and artificial intelligence. It is the science and technology of embodied autonomous neural systems. Neural systems include brain-inspired algorithms,computational models of biological neural networks and actual biological systems. Such neural systems can be embodied in machines with mechanic or any other forms of physical actuation. This includes robots,prosthetic or wearable systems but also,at smaller scale,micro-machines and,at the larger scales,furniture and infrastructures.
Neurostimulation is the purposeful modulation of the nervous system's activity using invasive or non-invasive means. Neurostimulation usually refers to the electromagnetic approaches to neuromodulation.
When treating a person with a spinal cord injury,repairing the damage created by injury is the ultimate goal. By using a variety of treatments,greater improvements are achieved,and,therefore,treatment should not be limited to one method. Furthermore,increasing activity will increase his/her chances of recovery.
The Center for Neurotechnology (CNT) is an Engineering Research Center funded by the National Science Foundation to create devices to restore the body's capabilities for sensation and movement. The National Science Foundation has awarded the CNT $~30 million since 2011.
A peripheral nerve interface is the bridge between the peripheral nervous system and a computer interface which serves as a bi‐directional information transducer recording and sending signals between the human body and a machine processor. Interfaces to the nervous system usually take the form of electrodes for stimulation and recording,though chemical stimulation and sensing are possible. Research in this area is focused on developing peripheral nerve interfaces for the restoration of function following disease or injury to minimize associated losses. Peripheral nerve interfaces also enable electrical stimulation and recording of the peripheral nervous system to study the form and function of the peripheral nervous system. For example,recent animal studies have demonstrated high accuracy in tracking physiological meaningful measures,like joint angle. Many researchers also focus in the area of neuroprosthesis,linking the human nervous system to bionics in order to mimic natural sensorimotor control and function. Successful implantation of peripheral nerve interfaces depend on a number of factors which include appropriate indication,perioperative testing,differentiated planning,and functional training. Typically microelectrode devices are implanted adjacent to,around or within the nerve trunk to establish contact with the peripheral nervous system. Different approaches may be used depending on the type of signal desired and attainable.
Spinal cord injury research seeks new ways to cure or treat spinal cord injury in order to lessen the debilitating effects of the injury in the short or long term. There is no cure for SCI,and current treatments are mostly focused on spinal cord injury rehabilitation and management of the secondary effects of the condition. Two major areas of research include neuroprotection,ways to prevent damage to cells caused by biological processes that take place in the body after the injury,and neuroregeneration,regrowing or replacing damaged neural circuits.
Stentrode is a small stent-mounted electrode array permanently implanted into a blood vessel in the brain,without the need for open brain surgery. It is in clinical trials as a brain–computer interface (BCI) for people with paralyzed or missing limbs,who will use their neural signals or thoughts to control external devices,which currently include computer operating systems. The device may ultimately be used to control powered exoskeletons,robotic prosthesis,computers or other devices.
A cortical implant is a subset of neuroprosthetics that is in direct connection with the cerebral cortex of the brain. By directly interfacing with different regions of the cortex,the cortical implant can provide stimulation to an immediate area and provide different benefits,depending on its design and placement. A typical cortical implant is an implantable microelectrode array,which is a small device through which a neural signal can be received or transmitted.
Milos R. Popovic is a scientist specializing in Functional Electrical Stimulation (FES) and neurorehabilitation. As of 2018,he is Director of the KITE Research Institute at UHN Toronto Rehabilitation Institute (TRI),and a Professor with the Institute of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering at the University of Toronto.
Neural dust is a hypothetical(?) class of nanometer-sized devices operated as wirelessly powered nerve sensors;it is a type of brain–computer interface. The sensors may be used to study,monitor,or control the nerves and muscles and to remotely monitor neural activity. In practice,a medical treatment could introduce thousands of neural dust devices into human brains. The term is derived from "smart dust",as the sensors used as neural dust may also be defined by this concept.
Paul Hunter Peckham is a professor of biomedical engineering and orthopedics at the Case Western Reserve University,and holds eight patents related to neural prosthetics. Peckham's research involves developing prostheses to restore function in the upper extremities for paralyzed individuals with spinal cord injury.
Eberhard Erich Fetz is an American neuroscientist,academic and researcher. He is a Professor of Physiology and Biophysics and DXARTS at the University of Washington.
