Scientists are already testing unique devices that open up immense perspectives for humans.
- Cybermedicine is the introduction of various devices into the human body that help correct physical disabilities, fight serious illnesses and their consequences, in a word, prolong a normal, full life as much as possible, - explains the head of the laboratory of the Institute of Higher Nervous Activity and Neurophysiology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Doctor of Biological Sciences, Professor Alexander Frolov.
The leading scientist is engaged in the study of the structure of the brain at the level of neurons, the development of brain-computer interfaces and their use for the rehabilitation of patients after injuries and diseases. As part of the Scientific Lecture - 2045, which is taking place in Moscow, the expert spoke about the latest advances in the field of cybermedicine in Russia and other countries, as well as about the exciting prospects that are opening up before mankind.
SEE WITH THE BRAIN
“Kidney prosthetics are already widely used around the world: devices that replace these organs can work in the human body for up to 40 years,” the scientist reminds. - From 2 to 7 years, an artificial heart is capable of supporting human life. Lung and liver prostheses are being actively developed. However, the successes here are not so impressive: the main respiratory organ "lives" no more than 6 months, and the liver works for only 4 days. But this is just the beginning.
At the same time, cybermedicine managed to do something that boggles the imagination and still seems to many to be science fiction: prosthetics of the most complex system of visual organs.
As you know, people often go blind due to the death of retinal cells - this is the shell of the eye that perceives the image and converts it into nerve impulses. They are transmitted to the brain, decrypted there, and we get the usual visual images of objects - we see them. For those who were deprived of such an opportunity due to injury or illness, the American scientist and ophthalmologist William Dobelle from New York has created a unique device.
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“A person puts on glasses in which a small television camera is placed, and the optical signal from it goes to an electrochip implanted into the visual cortex of the brain at the back of the head,” explains Alexander Frolov. - The chip consists of electrodes, when they are excited, there are flashes of light - phosphenes (you can imagine them if you lightly press on your closed eye). Thus, the visual picture coming from the TV camera is converted into a certain set of light flashes. At first, they seem chaotic and disorderly to a person, but with training and use in everyday life, the brain begins to recognize and get used to the fact that each object corresponds to one or another flash pattern.
“About 20 operations were performed, they were successful, one of the patients was even able to drive a car,” says Professor Frolov. In 2004, Dr. Dobelle, who founded his institute in New York, died, but his colleagues in the United States and other countries continue to research so that blind people can get more complete images of the world around them.
HOW THOUGHT POWER CONTROLS A ROBOT
In the laboratory of Alexander Frolov, an experiment was carried out: an encephalographic mesh is put on a person's head, which reads the electrical signals of the brain and transmits it to a computer for recognition. The subject is seated in front of the screen, the target is set on the monitor, and it is suggested to bring the cursor to it … by the power of thought.
“When we imagine a certain movement, a corresponding electrical signal appears in the brain,” explains the professor. "If you catch this signal and decrypt it with a computer, you can send the necessary command to some external device and thus control it."
A similar algorithm was used in practice by one of the pioneers of neurocybernetics, Professor John Donahue from Brown University (USA). Two patients - a 58-year-old woman who was paralyzed more than 15 years ago, and a 66-year-old man who was completely immobilized after a stroke - had neurochips implanted into the motor cortex. Signals from the brain went to a computer, processed and transmitted to a manipulator - a robot in the form of a hand.
The patients had to imagine that they were moving the artificial hand in the right direction. The woman trained for 4 days and as a result was able to independently take with her robotic hand and bring herself a thermos with coffee. The man managed to master the prosthesis faster: he was soon able to control the manipulator with the power of thought so that the cyber fingers grabbed and squeezed the foam ball.
“We are close to returning to the paralyzed the ability to perform routine actions that billions of people perform in their everyday lives, without thinking about how it works,” Dr. Donahue said in an interview. Scientists are now working to create an artificial arm with faster and more flexible control.
PROSTHESIS CAN "FEEL"
“Cyber prosthetics is developing all over the world for those whose arms or legs are amputated,” continues Alexander Frolov. One of the most striking examples is South African runner Oscar Pistorius. With prostheses in place of both legs, he won many Paralympic Games and even competed successfully with healthy athletes.
Moreover, for several years, Pistorius was forbidden to participate in ordinary races on the pretext that unique prostheses provide advantages over human legs. But then the ban was lifted (now Pistorius is accused of the murder of his girlfriend, a photo model, he is being tried).
Last year, the famous "cyborg man" Nigel Ekland came to Russia. At a press conference, he showed reporters how skillfully he manipulates a bionic prosthesis, replacing an amputated right arm from the elbow. Nigel fully serves himself at home: cooks, drives a car, types on a computer.
“All I have to do is imagine, say, that I am pinching a ball. A signal from the brain enters the stump muscle, which contracts and transmits an impulse to the prosthesis motor. Then the cyberpicks bend and I can grab something,”explains Ekland.
Now scientists are entering the next stage: creating a system that will transmit signals not only from the brain to an external device, but also in the opposite direction. That is, through a computer, the brain will be able to recognize the properties of objects that the prosthesis touches. In fact, a person will learn to “feel” his artificial hand!
“To do this, it will be necessary to equip the system with receptors that will detect changes in the configuration of an object, receive tactile signals - all this will allow transmitting a feeling of feeling to the brain,” Alexander Frolov draws a picture that is captivating for the imagination.
As a result, the management of prostheses will be as close as possible to the full action of human hands and feet. Highly sensitive robots can be used for the most complex operations in medicine, research and development and other areas of our life.
BRAIN + COMPUTER FOR RECOVERY AFTER STROKE
The number of patients with cerebral hemorrhages is growing both in our country and throughout the world. One of the most severe consequences of a stroke is paralysis, which occurs due to damage to the motor area of the brain. In these cases, cybernetic medicine can help with rehabilitation. This is the project that Professor Frolov's team is currently working on under the auspices of the Ministry of Health with co-financing from the Russian Foundation for Basic Research (RFBR).
“It has been proven that when a person imagines the movements of his arms or legs, the same parts of the brain are activated as in real movements,” says Alexander Alekseevich. During training, patients are put on encephalographic caps that read brain signals, and the parts of the body that need to be "wiggled" are inserted into an exoskeleton, a device connected to a computer and repeating the outline of the body.
The person is asked to imagine, say, unclenching the arm - because after a stroke, the hands are often compressed, and it is impossible to unbend them on their own (this is called spasticity). Through a computer, a signal from the brain is transmitted to the exoskeleton worn on the hand, and the device opens the hand. “The importance of this procedure is that when an imaginary movement coincides with reality, even if it is achieved with the help of an external device, unique plastic changes take place in the brain - processes that restore motor function,” explains Professor Frolov.
So far, this is an experimental technology that involves 20 patients. It is assumed that clinical studies of the new method of rehabilitation will last for another three years. If their effectiveness is confirmed in the majority of patients, then cybernetic technology can be introduced into the official Russian standards of stroke rehabilitation.