Brain chips

Scientists are to implant tiny computer chips in the brains of paralysed patients which could 'read their thoughts'. US researchers from Cyberkinetics Inc are to be allowed to implant the chips underneath the skulls of patients. The chips will map the neural activity which occurs when someone thinks about moving a limb. Scientists will then translate those signals into computer code that could one day be fed into robotic limbs.

The company, based in Foxboro, Massachusetts, has been given Food and Drug Administration approval to begin the trials of the four-millimetre square chips. The 'Brain Gate' contains tiny spikes that will extend down about one millimetre into the brain after being implanted beneath the skull, monitoring the activity from a small group of neurons. The signals will be monitored through wires emerging from the skull, which presents some danger of infection. The company is working on a wireless version. BBC News