Neural control of cursor trajectory and click by a human with tetraplegia 1000 days after implant of an intracortical microelectrode array

TLDR

The BrainGate pilot trial evaluates whether neural signals from a chronically implanted intracortical microelectrode array can serve as control inputs for a neural prosthesis. The study seeks to determine how long such electrodes remain functional, how reliably their signals can be decoded, and how effectively they can drive assistive devices or functional electrical stimulation. On five days 1000 days post‑implant, the authors recorded spiking activity from a 4×4 mm array of 100 electrodes in motor cortex, trained a Kalman velocity decoder with a linear discriminant click classifier, and tested closed‑loop point‑and‑click cursor control in center‑out and Fitts‑metric tasks while monitoring electrode impedance, unit waveforms, and local field potentials. Across the five sessions, 41 of 96 electrodes produced usable spikes that were decoded into 91.3 % correct target acquisition, demonstrating repeatable, accurate point‑and‑click control 1000 days after implantation.

Abstract

The ongoing pilot clinical trial of the BrainGate neural interface system aims in part to assess the feasibility of using neural activity obtained from a small-scale, chronically implanted, intracortical microelectrode array to provide control signals for a neural prosthesis system. Critical questions include how long implanted microelectrodes will record useful neural signals, how reliably those signals can be acquired and decoded, and how effectively they can be used to control various assistive technologies such as computers and robotic assistive devices, or to enable functional electrical stimulation of paralyzed muscles. Here we examined these questions by assessing neural cursor control and BrainGate system characteristics on five consecutive days 1000 days after implant of a 4 × 4 mm array of 100 microelectrodes in the motor cortex of a human with longstanding tetraplegia subsequent to a brainstem stroke. On each of five prospectively-selected days we performed time-amplitude sorting of neuronal spiking activity, trained a population-based Kalman velocity decoding filter combined with a linear discriminant click state classifier, and then assessed closed-loop point-and-click cursor control. The participant performed both an eight-target center-out task and a random target Fitts metric task which was adapted from a human-computer interaction ISO standard used to quantify performance of computer input devices. The neural interface system was further characterized by daily measurement of electrode impedances, unit waveforms and local field potentials. Across the five days, spiking signals were obtained from 41 of 96 electrodes and were successfully decoded to provide neural cursor point-and-click control with a mean task performance of 91.3% ± 0.1% (mean ± s.d.) correct target acquisition. Results across five consecutive days demonstrate that a neural interface system based on an intracortical microelectrode array can provide repeatable, accurate point-and-click control of a computer interface to an individual with tetraplegia 1000 days after implantation of this sensor.