"Hello, world! Short tweet. Monumental progress" ("Hello, world! Small tweet. Huge progress"): this is the belt of the first message in the world posted on social networks only with a thought. Philip O'Keefe, a 62-year-old Australian suffering from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), sent it thanks to an eight-millimeter wireless device implanted in the brain and called a stentrode. The Synchron company that developed the technology reports this.
"When I first heard about it, I knew how much independence it could give me back," says patient Philip. "The system is incredible, it's like learning to ride a bike: it takes a little practice, but when you start riding, it becomes natural. Now I just think about where I want to click on the computer and I can send emails, manage my account, do purchases and now also send messages to the world via Twitter ".
The 62-year-old sent the first messages on December 23 from the profile of Synchron's CEO, Thomas Oxley, who states: "Philip tweeted seven and posted several likes. These tweets represent an important moment for the brain interface industry. implantable computers. They demonstrate the connection, hope and freedom they give to people like Phil who have lost much of their functional independence due to paralysis. We look forward to advancing our Stentrode interface in the first clinical study in the United States next year ".
(Unioneonline / vl)
