Nathan Copeland controls a robotic arm using electrodes implanted in his brain. Published in the journal Science, the team say their work demonstrates that adding sensation to the technology significantly improves the function of prostheses for quadriplegics, compared with based solely on visual cues. Nathan Copeland, 34, told AFP: “I am the first person in the world to have a device implanted in the sensory cortex that scientists can use to stimulate my brain directly. And then, I felt like I had a real feel in my flesh and blood hand.” In 2004, Copeland was involved in a car accident that left him with a severe spinal cord injury and quadriplegia. He volunteered for scientific research and six years ago he underwent major surgery to implant tiny electrodes in his brain. Two sets of 88 electrodes the width of a human hair are arranged like tiny combs and penetrate deep into the cortex, which controls motor function. According to Associate Professor Rob Gaunt of the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at the University of Pittsburgh, co-leader of the study, fewer than 30 people in the world have received such a transplant. What’s unique about Copeland’s case is that an additional set of electrodes is connected to his dorsal cortex, which receives and processes sensations. The idea of ​​sending haptic feedback to the tactile sensory cortex dates back decades, but doing so in a controlled and understandable way by brain circuitry used to be a major challenge. After Copeland underwent surgery to install the electrodes, the team was truly thrilled. Then came the decisive moment, when they tried sending the first tactile signal. “It felt really fuzzy,” Copeland recalls. He asked them to try again to make sure it was real. Before the interface could work with the robotic arm, the scientists had to perform a series of tests on Copeland. First, they needed to learn which electrodes cause what sensation when activated and which fingers are associated with them in order to set up the robotic hand correctly. They also made him watch a video of the robotic arm moving left or right and recorded the electrodes lighting up when he was asked to “think” it was him controlling it. Copeland sat next to a black metal robotic arm and was asked to pick up a series of small objects such as rocks and spheres and place them in a box – when the tactile sensors were turned on or off. He can complete each task in an average of twice as fast when the sensors are activated, and can even perform more complex tasks like picking up a glass and pouring its contents into a glass. another cup. The team wanted to further refine the prosthetics because they didn’t want to just do science experiments in the lab, but wanted to actually make devices that would be useful to people. Copeland has set up his brain-computer interface at home when the Covid-19 pandemic shut down universities and has used his downtime to learn how to draw on a tablet and even play video games. death. He does this by using his mind to send signals directly to the computer, instead of using his arms to press buttons.

Although the number of Chinese cars has skyrocketed, in fact, it is still ranked third, behind Thailand and Indonesia. In the first quarter of 2021, the country imported 35,360 complete cars, up 31.1% over the same period last year. According to statistics, in the first quarter of 2021, CBU imported cars from China into Vietnam increased 6 times over the same period last year. Photo source: Cong Luan newspaper Cars in complete units imported to Vietnam are mainly cars of the category “with 9 seats or less” and “trucks” – accounting for 92% of the total. In particular, the number of cars with 9 seats or less (small car) returned to Vietnam in the first quarter was about more than 23,000 units. In which, cars from Thailand and Indonesia account for 80% of the total import volume of the country. Thailand leads with 19,300 vehicles imported into Vietnam, an increase of 56% over the same period last year. Standing in second place, but the number of Indonesian cars decreased by 26% compared to the first quarter of 2020, reaching only 8,950 units. Indonesia is known as the country that exports cheap cars to Vietnam with some prominent names such as Mitsubishi Xpander, Suzuki XL7 … Meanwhile, besides passenger cars with low to mid-price prices, Thailand Lan also exports all pickup trucks sold in the Vietnamese market.