April 3rd 2020 We are facing a major health threat in the COVID-19 disease, which is caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus. The World Health Organization (WHO) has officially declared it a pandemic, with over 1 million cases (972,640 confirmed cases and 50,325 deaths) and with global fear and uncertainty increasing. As we wrote in January, … Continue reading COVID-19 vaccine shows efficacy in mice
Tag: university of pittsburgh
Brain-machine interface success allows paralysed woman to feed herself for first time in a decade.
Today the Guardian newspaper has a fascinating report on how a woman named Jan Scheuermann, quadraplegic for over a decade due to a spinal degenerative disease, was able to feed herself with the help of two intracortical microelectrode arrays that monitored her motor neuron activity and allowed her to manipulate a robotic arm and hand with unprecedented fluency and accuracy. … Continue reading Brain-machine interface success allows paralysed woman to feed herself for first time in a decade.
ERV blogs on GMO Herpes vs severe cancer pain
As gene therapy emerges as one of the hottest areas of medical research, one thing that is striking is how it employs viruses - sometimes very nasty viruses - to deliver the gene to where it is needed in the human body. Yesterday virologist Abbie Smith discussed another excellent example of this on the ERV blog … Continue reading ERV blogs on GMO Herpes vs severe cancer pain
Tom talks nerdy to Cara Santa Maria about monkeys, prosthetic hands and brain machine interfaces.
Speaking of Research founder Tom Holder was recently interviewed by the Huffington Post’s new science correspondent Cara Santa Maria for her blog “Talk Nerdy To Me” . In her latest post Cara examines whether research performed on monkeys by a Chinese group with the aim of developing improved brain-machine interface technology to control a prosthetic … Continue reading Tom talks nerdy to Cara Santa Maria about monkeys, prosthetic hands and brain machine interfaces.
A paralysed man touches his girlfriend’s hand…thanks to animal research.
Earlier this year we reported that scientists at the University of Pittsburgh had launched clinical trials of two different brain implant systems, known as brain machine interfaces, that aim to give quadriplegic patients control over a prosthetic limb. At the time we noted that this technology was built on years of basic and translational research … Continue reading A paralysed man touches his girlfriend’s hand…thanks to animal research.
Overcoming paralysis: From Monkey to Man at the University of Pittsburgh
On Friday the New York Times reported that scientists at the University of Pittsburgh are ready to start clinical trials of two different brain implant systems, known as brain machine interfaces, that aim to give quadriplegic patients control over a prosthetic limb. In the main project a team led by Professor Andrew Schwartz and Professor … Continue reading Overcoming paralysis: From Monkey to Man at the University of Pittsburgh
Returning control to paralyzed limbs one nerve at a time.
A few months ago we reported on a fascinating study undertaken by Andy Schwartz and colleagues at the University of Pittsburgh, who developed a brain-machine interface that when implanted into the motor cortex, the part of the brain responsible for controlling voluntary muscle movements, of monkeys allowed then to control a robot arm with surprising … Continue reading Returning control to paralyzed limbs one nerve at a time.
Monkeys, Robots and the University of Pittsburgh – New hope for paralysis victims?
The day after Tom Holder spoke at the University of Pittsburgh about the importance of animal research, more news is coming from this academic institution. Every 45 seconds someone in the US gets a stroke, many are left paralyzed, furthermore 14,000 people every year suffer spinal cord injuries which may also result in paralysis. There … Continue reading Monkeys, Robots and the University of Pittsburgh – New hope for paralysis victims?
Speaking of Research 