Paralyzed man moves hand with help of new technology

New technology has helped a paralyzed man move his hand and fingers for the first time in years, and he did it using his own thoughts.

This is just the start to what could be a medical breakthrough with the potential to help millions of people.

It happened in a small lab, but for Ian Burkhart, it was an enormous moment.

A few days ago the 23-year-old became the first patient ever to move a paralyzed hand by using his own thoughts.

The system is called Neurobridge. It uses a tiny chip which was surgically implanted in Ian's brain in the area that controls hand and arm movements.

The chip reads his thoughts, processes them, and in less than a 10th of a second, sends signals to a high-tech sleeve on his arm, making his hand move.

Research leader Chad Bouton explains, "It's much like a heart bypass, but instead of bypassing blood, we're actually bypassing electrical signals. We're taking those signals from the brain, going around the injury, and actually going directly to the muscles."

Other technologies use robotics or computers to move muscles, but this one, developed by Ohio State University and Battelle - a high-tech firm - is believed to be the first using this bypass method.

When Ian was able to move his hand, even his doctors were in awe.

Dr. W. Jerry Mysiw from Ohio State Medical Center says, "Where we are now, to me, is still staggering in its implications."

Ian was injured four years ago in a diving accident. He says using Neurobridge is about being able to do simple things again.

He says, "Picking up a cup of water and drinking it, or brushing your teeth or feeding yourself, you know, those things. If you can to those on your own, makes a big difference in your life."

This is the first version of the Neurobridge. It is a bit cumbersome, but now that engineers know it works, they can start working on smaller versions. They also hope it can help people who have a stroke or traumatic brain injury.

And the hope is it will help with those everyday tasks we tend to take for granted.