Eel Vertebrae Could Hold the Key to Neuroprosthetics
From: Medical Device & Diagnostic Industry - February 2005 - page 32
By: Maria Fontanazza

Studying an eel’s spinal cord could lead to the development of a
neuroprosthetic device that controls walking. In theory, the device would
directly interact with the nervous system and mimic brain signals that are
sent to a person’s legs.  

Researchers at The Johns Hopkins University (Baltimore) and the University of
Maryland (College Park, MD) are working with a lamprey eel’s spinal cord to
design a microchip implant that will form a functional network with the
nervous system. The team, which also includes Anthony Lewis, founder of
Iguana Robotics Inc. (Urbana, IL), is currently utilizing the lamprey eel to
develop a stimulation and recording device. "We’re using standard technology
for implementing analog and digital circuits to produce stimulation signals
that integrate with the eel’s spinal cord," explains Ralph Etienne-Cummings,
associate professor of electrical and computer engineering at Johns Hopkins. 

Caption:
The neural prosthetic is based on lamprey eel spinal cord research. 

Read the entire article at:
http://www.devicelink.com/mddi/archive/05/02/008.html

Links:
Ralph Etienne-Cummings
http://etienne.ece.jhu.edu/~etienne/index_old.html

Envisioning the Future of Robotics
http://www.blackengineer.com/artman/publish/article_114.shtml

Learning from Eel's Spinal Cord
http://www.jhu.edu/~gazette/2004/06dec04/06spinal.html

Replicating an Eel's Nerve Circuitry May Aid Paralyzed People
http://www.jhu.edu/news_info/news/home04/dec04/spine.html
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2004/12/041203084855.htm

Decentralized robot control mimics natural movements
http://www.eet.com/story/technology/OEG20000828S0037

Spinal-Cord Chip Implants Underway
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0%2C1759%2C1740730%2C00.asp

Lamprey May Offer Paralysis Cure
http://www.wired.com/news/medtech/0%2C1286%2C66005%2C00.html?tw=newsletter_topstories_html

Iguana Robotics, Inc.
http://www.iguana-robotics.com/