Mark Sears 11-11-15 C Block Odd Current Event http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/05/150521144028.htm
Intuitive control of robotic arm using thoughts alone
By University of Southern California - Health Sciences
A paralyzed man with the help of Caltech and Keck Medicine of USC and Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Center got a robotic arm. The man has a neural prosthetic implant in a section in the brain that creates intentions. The robotic arm can perform basic motor skills like shaking a hand and drink a beverage.
The scientists implanted the device into Erik G. Sorto’s brain. Sorto is the first ever paralyzed patient to ever control a robotic arm with his mind. The device was not attached to his motor cortex but the his posterior parietal cortex (PPC) which is the part of the brain that creates intent to move, this lead to a faster and more fluent reaction time between his thoughts and the arm.
In animal tests it was found that the PCC that creates the intent to move. The patient has to imagine the task or goal and the brain activity was decoded by the scientists and the information sent to the robotic arm to follow out. The first day Sorto tried to control the arm it worked, and after a few weeks he refined his skills and completed the task at hand. I think this is enough information and evidence to prove that this surgery will be successful again and advance the life of many people with paralysis.
The author did a very good job writing this article. The article is very well written and is very factual about the whole process of the surgery and the controlling of the arm. I think this is a very successful trial and process, but I still have more questions about making more parts of the body and if they could be connected. The author did an exquisite job getting research about how it was done, how it works, and how it was possible. The author is slanted towards the side of the scientist, but I do not think that deeply affected the article and it’s content.
Mark, overall, wrote a very interesting current events. I thought that Mark wrote a very intellectual report using the sophisticated words from his article. The topic of the robotic arm talked about in Mark's article is very interesting and relevant to today's society.
ReplyDeleteMark did an excellent job of portraying the points made in the article. Although he used the sophisticated language in the article he made sure to explain himself. I thought that Mark did a great job of using the article as evidence to support the views presented in this paper.
I thought that Mark could have done a better job of relating this article to today's world. He should have talked about what this topic means for future society.
The author did a very good job writing this article. The author supported his conclusions with evidence and made sure to explain himself. Mark chose a well-written article and wrote a great current events on the article.