Researchers at the UW have discovered a chip that repairs damaged signal pathways in the brain, which targets patients who suffer from stroke, injuries or paralysis.

The conductors of the study were UW researchers Eberhard Fetz, Andrew Jackson and Jaideep Mavoori.

Called the Neurochip, the device used in the study strengthened links to damaged areas in the part of the brain that controls movement, the motor cortex. In the study, the chip induced changes in monkeys that lasted more than a week.

"We suggest that the Neurochip could be used not only to replace severed connections in the brain, but also to create new connections, which could serve as a new treatment to help repair the brain after injury," Jackson said.

The study is a major development in the field of brain-computer interface, or BCI.

"The BCI field is about using brain activity to control computers or external devices such as artificial limbs," said Fetz, associate director of the primate research center at the UW. "An important step toward making these devices practical is developing implantable circuitry that can operate continuously."

That is exactly what their research does.

"Until now, researchers either studied brain cells in a dish under a microscope or trained animals to sit still while bulky apparatus was attached with cables," Jackson said. "Our development of miniaturized circuitry allows us to interface with the brain 24 hours a day while the monkey moves around freely."

Another major development in this study is that clinical implementations of the neurochip are small enough to be tested on humans.

While the study is a major advancement in BCI, it also raises many potential questions. The implications of the UW researchers are being addressed by new and more in depth research that this study has pioneered.

Fetz, for example, is working on a study to connect the chip to arm muscles.

Jackson is now at the University of Newcastle in the United Kingdom, participating in research that aims to perfect the Neurochip.

"Ultimately I would like to establish that this technology is safe and effective for human use," Jackson said.

Contributing writer Chaitra Sriram: development@thedaily.washington.edu