The World's First Mind-Controlled Robot Arm Works Well Without Implant Surgery

Researchers from Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) and the University of Minnesota have created robotic arms that can be controlled by the human mind without having to go through risky and expensive brain implant surgeries. This is a major breakthrough in the brain computing interface (BCI).

Researchers have asked participants to use this system to control a robotic arm to move a cursor around the computer screen. The robot arm was able to continuously move the cursor in real-time without any jerky movement. This is the first time a BCI system does not invade the human body that has been successfully tested.

This invention brings a lot of potential future applications by the ability to control computers with human brains. Typically, helping people with various types of movement or paralysis can still use computer devices.

Most successful BCI technology applications involve implanting the system into the human brain to receive signals from inside. Implant surgeries are always dangerous, costly, and have unknown effects in the future. Therefore, this technology has not been widely applied. Only a few people in the world really benefit from these technologies.

Researchers from the two universities have developed an extremely potential system. It handles lower signal quality through human skin sensors. New sensor technologies and new machine learning can be combined to get signals from deep inside the user's brain. It is important that it does not emit any kind of noise that affects the health of the user. CMU researcher Bin He said:

This discovery is really important because it can change the lives of many patients around the world. Clinical trials will soon be started by these researchers.