Robot arm moved by paralyzed woman’s mind

Mind-controlled prosthetics and robots are moving closer to becoming an everyday reality.

This week a paralyzed woman who has been quadriplegic for 15 years was able to use her mind to serve herself a drink with a robotic arm.

The demonstration was a part of a trial of BrainGate technology that may one day help those using prosthetics to regain control of their new limbs.

"This is another big jump forward to control the movements of a robotic arm in three-dimensional space," said John Donoghue of the Institute for Brain Science at Brown University and lead developer of BrainGate technology, reported Reuters.

"We're getting closer to restoring some level of everyday function to people with limb paralysis."

BrainGate uses a tiny chip implanted into a brain region that controls movement.

The persons thoughts are sent into the implanted sensor through nerve signals and then are interpreted by a nearby computer which controls the robot.

Reuters reported that the system has so far been used to move a computer cursor and smaller robotic devices.

The development of BrainGate is a collaboration between the Veterans Affairs, the National Institutes of Health, Brown University, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard, and the German Aerospace Center's Institute of Robotics and Mechatronics, said the Los Angeles Times.

The number of new technologies using the mind to control prosthetics is increasing.

Last month, a man in Switzerland moved a small robot that was miles away with the use of just his mind.

Read more on GlobalPost: Swiss scientists create a mind-controlled robot

According to USA Today there are approximately 260,000 Americans who have suffered spinal cord injuries, which, combined with brain injuries and strokes, leave over one million disabled.

The new study is published in the journal Nature.