Quadraplegic lifts first beer in 13 years

A man paralysed for more than a decade has lifted his first beer in 13 years by controlling a robotic arm with the power of his mind.

Erik Sorto, 34, was paralysed from the neck down after he was shot in the neck at the age of 21. At the time he had been involved in gang activity.

After enrolling in a neuroscience research programme, Sorto underwent surgery in 2013 which saw a small pair of electrodes implanted into two parts of his brain – one that controls reach and the other grasp. The tiny electrodes are able to decode brain waves and turn thoughts into the movements of a robotic arm – a feat accomplish by Sorto following surgery.

Through the power of his thoughts, Sorto was able to control the robotic arm to drink from a bottle using a straw, give a hand-shake gesture and play rock, paper scissors, as reported by The Guardian.

Dubbing the experiment as “awesome”, he said he was “surprised at how easy it was” to control the robotic arm.

“I remember just having this out-of-body experience, and I wanted to just run around and high-five everybody”, he said of the experience.

Previous technology tested on amputees, where the spinal cord remains intact and signals are read from the nervous system, has resulted in delayed and jerky movements. However this is not possible in patients with a spinal cord injury. Instead, this latest trial saw electrodes implanted directly into a “higher” brain region called the PPC, improving the ability to control movement.

The achievement raises the possibility of patients with spinal injuries being able to control robotic limbs or even entire body suits in the future.

Richard Andersen, who led the trial at California Institute of Technology, said: “When you move your arm, you really don’t think about which muscles to activate and the details of the movement – such as lift the arm, extend the arm, grasp the cup, close the hand around the cup, and so on. Instead, you think about the goal of the movement, for example, ‘I want to pick up that cup of water.’”

“It was a big surprise that the patient was able to control the limb on day one – the very first day he tried,” said Andersen. “This attests to how intuitive the control is when using PPC activity.”