Within the TOBI european research project (www.tobi-project.org), led from EPFL (www.epfl.ch) by Prof. José del R. Millán, a patient of the SUVAcare rehabilitation clinic in Sion (Switzerland) uses a brain-computer interface (BCI) to help him recover the mobility of his paralyzed right arm. The EEG reads his brain waves as he concentrates on moving his hand; the computer recognizes the pattern and then sends an impulse in the electrodes stimulating the arm's muscles, as explains Dr. Abdul Al-Khodairy, physician at the SUVAcare clinic.
Scientists have found out that this technique can help disabled people to "reconnect" their brain to their muscles in certain cases - an effect that remains after using the BCI.