UW brain implant could help paralyzed limbs move again From: Seattle Times - 12/29/2015 University of Washington researchers are working on an implantable device that could help paralyzed people move their limbs, and just received a new federal grant to help with their quest. Researchers at the University of Washington are making progress in a quest to create a device that would allow people who have been paralyzed by injury or stroke to move their limbs. The goal: To make such a device - which would be implanted in the brain and interpret brain signals - available for clinical trials in eight to 10 years. Such devices "could be a game changer," said Rajesh Rao, director of the Center for Sensorimotor Neural Engineering at the UW. Implantable devices would work by sending signals between regions of the brain or nervous system that no longer communicate with each other because of injury or stroke. So far, the lab has developed "bi-directional" devices that can pick up brain signals, decode the information, then send it to other parts of the nervous system. The goal is to create devices that create a new, artificial pathway, allowing information to bypass damaged parts of the brain or nervous system. Read the entire article at: http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/education/uw-working-on-device-that-could-help-the-paralyzed-move-again Links: Rajesh Rao http://www.csne-erc.org/profile-detail/328#Rajesh%20Rao Center for Sensorimotor Neural Engineering http://www.csne-erc.org Implant Could Bridge Lost Brain Connections to Reanimate Paralyzed Limbs http://www.mdtmag.com/news/2015/12/implant-could-bridge-lost-brain-connections-reanimate-paralyzed-limbs Submitted by Drew Nelson