From: Ramez Naam (mez@apexnano.com)
Date: Tue Aug 05 2003 - 19:55:29 MDT
From: Brett Paatsch [mailto:bpaatsch@bigpond.net.au]
> Ramez Naam <mez@apexnano.com> writes:
> > Warwick wasn't even the first neurobot. There were
> > at least 50,000 people before him. Today there are
> > 80,000 people with cochlear implants.
>
> > There are at least 30,000 people with deep brain
> > stimulating electrodes to control the sympoms of
> > Parkinson's. There are hundreds of people taking
> > part in clinical trials of deep brain stimulators to control
> > chronic pain, depression, and obsessive compulsive
> > disorder. And there are more than a dozen people
> > who have electrodes in their visual cortex, their
> > motor cortex, or their retinas.
>
> Do you have sources for the Parkinson's electrodes,
> the deep brain stimulators and the motor cortex stuff
> you mention above Mez?
Medtronic is the company that makes the most popular deep brain
stimulator (DBS) for Parkinson's. See
http://www.medtronic.com/activa/physician/implantable.html
Phil Kennedy, who did the first implantation of an electrode into
human motor cortex, founded a company called Neural Signals.
http://www.neuralsignals.com/
The stuff on using DBS for other diseases is more in journals than
press. But if you search for [DBS depression] or [DBS pain] or [DBS
OCD] you'll find plenty of links.
You can also find numerous reviews of that work in journals like
Science and in the lay press. Search on "Phil Kennedy" + "Johnny Ray"
for example.
And if you're really interested in the state of the art of brain
implants, I can send you the chapter I've written on the topic.
mez
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