In 2023, the team at Feinstein implanted two sets of computer chips in Thomas’s brain. One set detects signals coming from areas that control movement. The other delivers signals to areas that process touch and pressure.
These chips are wired to twin pedestals on Thomas’s head, which allow his brain to interact with an array of electronics needed to animate his right hand. Right now, this only happens in Bouton’s lab, where Thomas spends several hours, twice a week.
The technology is all part of what Bouton calls a “double neural bypass.” The first branch bypasses the damaged area of Thomas’s spinal cord.
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