Last modified: Friday, August 3, 2007 1:19 AM EDT Grant boosts area medical firm BY RICK FOSTER SUN CHRONICLE STAFF FOXBORO - A local medical technology firm whose systems may one day help quadriplegics regain use of their limbs will get a boost from a five-year, $6.5 million federal grant that will also involve Brown University and an arm of Case Western Reserve University. Cyberkinetics Neurotechnology Systems, along with Brown and the Cleveland Functional Electrical Stimulation Center at Case Western Reserve, have announced they will act as a consortium to develop the technology under a grant provided by the National Institutes of Health. The grant is in support of Cyberkinetics' BrainGate Neural Interface System, which captures brain impulses to allow paralyzed people to control outside devices such as computers and appliances. The grant was awarded by the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering and the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, both constituents of the NIH. The ultimate goal of the BrainGate system is to create an implantable device capable of enabling paralyzed people to use their own limbs to perform tasks such as eating, drinking, and controlled breathing, as well as to regain bowel and bladder function. According to terms of the grant, Cyberkinetics may receive up to $2.5 million of the total grant award during the five-year period covered by the agreement. The award marks the second major NIH grant for BrainGate, developed by Brown University and Cyberkinetics. "We are extremely gratified that the NIH recognizes that the BrainGate technology holds promise in the effort to improve the lives of people with central nervous system injuries and disorders," said John Donoghue, chief scientific officer of Cyberkinetics and director of the brain science program at Brown University. The BrainGate Neural Interface System is an experimental brain-computer interface consisting of an implanted sensor that detects brain cell activity and external processors that convert brain signals into actions under a person's own control. The sensor is implanted on the area of the brain responsible for movement, where it detects and transmits neural signals to computers that analyze the signals. The system has already been used in trials to enable disabled people to execute certain commands, such as controlling a computer or a robotic arm, simply by thinking. RICK FOSTER can be reached at 508-236-0360 or at rfoster@thesunchronicle.com.