A new device that is controlled by a user's thoughts is undergoing testing to see if people affected by paralysis can use the machine to relearn how to move their limbs.

According to WebMD, the device combines a high-powered computer that is controlled by the brain with electronic stimulation of muscles damaged by a stroke to try to help patients relearn how the muscles are supposed to function. While this may sound like something out of science fiction, the early results of the study seem to indicate that the device can work.

Eight patients who suffered from paralysis in one hand were selected for testing the unnamed machine, and after six weeks of therapy they all noted improved motor function in their paralyzed limb. This means that users of the machine can perform simple tasks again, like combing their hair or buttoning up a shirt.

Dr. Vivek Prabhakaran, the study author and director of functional neuroimaging in radiology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison explains just how amazing this breakthrough is for people trying to regain normalcy after suffering from a stroke:

"These are patients who are months and years out from their strokes...Early studies suggested that there was no real room for change for these patients, that they had plateaued in the recovery. We're showing there is still room for change. There is plasticity we can harness."

The way the device works is both simple and the height of technology: Users play a simple game where they are prompted to try and hit a target by moving a ball with their affected limb. A cap worn by the user reads their brain signals as they think about moving their limb, while a computer interprets this data. From the computer, small electronic signals travel to pads on the paralyzed arm, mimicking nerve impulses. The more patients practiced, the better they were able to move their limbs.

Dr. Rafael Ortiz, who was not a part of the study but is the director of neuro-endovascular surgery and stroke at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City, believes this new treatment could potentially improve the lives of millions of people:

"Stroke is the largest cause of disability in the country...Fifty percent of stroke patients end up with severe disability, and that's out of 800,000 strokes that happen a year...Using therapies like this, we can offer hope to patients, even six or twelve months after their stroke."