One thing that has made it possible is that small computers can do so much. It's amazing what they can do. Human Trials Ray is the second person to receive the electrode. A third patient identified only by his initials, T.T., has been selected for implantation. Kennedy and his co-researchers must be very selective for the human trials.
People have to be cognitively intact and know what's going on, but be unable to communicate.
The best candidates at this stage of the experiment are individuals with ALS or those with high brain stem or high spinal cord injuries, or patients with advanced degenerative muscle disease, he says. The latest patient has been bedridden for the past four years and in a severely weakened state for the past 10. The metabolic muscle disease afflicting T.T. has left him with only slight eye movement left and right, and slight head movement, Kennedy says. While computers have been helping paralysis victims for years through various kinds of adaptive interfaces, Kennedy's project is the first to establish a direct connection between the brain and a computer. Eventually the technology could enable many other interactive functions as well.