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"      In 2012 PopMech gave a Breakthrough Award to Tim Hemmes and the team at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. Hemmes lost the use of his limbs after a motorcycle accident in 2004; the Pittsburgh docs built a brain-computer interface that let Hemmes move a robotic arm using only his thoughts. Today, an inspiring follow-up: Jan Scheuermann, whose spinocerebellar degeneration left her a quadriplegic, reportedly saw a video of Hemmes and wanted to try the same treatment. Within three months, Scheuermann could flex the wrist of the robotic arm and turn it from side to side. In the video above, just released by the med center, she even uses the arm to feed herself chocolate. The Pitt researchers implanted two tiny electrode grids with 96 contact points apiece into the part of the brain that Scheuermann would use to control her right arm and hand. Those little grids pick up the signals from her neurons and try to translate them into commands for the hand. Scheuermann&amp;#039;s grids are implanted just below the surface of the brain, but the team is working on a separate study that would use electrocortigraphy (ECoG) grids that sit on the brain&amp;#039;s surface. What next? According to the release: &amp;quot;The next step for BCI technology will likely use a two-way electrode system that can not only capture the intention to move, but in addition, will stimulate the brain to generate sensation, potentially allowing a user to adjust grip strength to firmly grasp a doorknob or gently cradle an egg.&amp;quot; And someday, team member Jennifer Collinger says, perhaps in a few years, quadriplegic patients could use a robotic arm at home without the scientists&amp;#039; supervision. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/robots/a11915/eating-chocolate-with-a-robot-hand-14875212/>