The company also said it has received U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval for limited use of a similar interface called Neuroport. NeuroPort is not intended to enable patients to control a computer with their thoughts. It is intended for temporary monitoring and analysis of electrical activity in the brain, the company said.

Cyberkinetics said the broad distribution of the Neuroport system could come as soon as the end of 2006.

Meanwhile a paralysed man in the U.S. became the first person to benefit from BrainGate, which effectively allows him to use his thoughts to control a television, according to a recent BBC report. Matthew Nagle, 25, was left paralysed from the neck down after a knife attack in 2001, the BBC said, adding that the Nagle was put on the BrainGate program at New England Sinai Hospital, Massachusetts, last summer.

Cyberkinetics said a second person has also received a BrainGate implant. "As of March 31, 2005, two patients have been implanted and are active in the pilot BrainGate trial," Cyberkinetic said. The trial is being conducted under an Investigational Device Exemption from the FDA, which provides for implanting the BrainGate system in five patients with quadriplegia due to spinal cord injury, stroke or muscular dystrophy for a period of 12 months. The 12 month period for the first study patient will end during June 2005.

The development is not entirely new. Elsewhere researchers have shown that that it is possible to train people to move a computer cursor while wearing a cap with 64 electrodes that pick up brain waves. This has the advantage of being non-invasive.

The BrainGate sensor consists of a silicon array that contains one hundred electrodes, each thinner than a human hair. The array is implanted on the surface of the brain, where it picks up electrical signals from the brain. Separately signal processing software analyzes the electrical activity of neurons and translate it into control signals for use in various computer-based applications. Nagle has used the system to switch a television on and off, to control the volume and to manipulate a prosthetic hand, the BBC said.

CyberKinetics said it has now received approval for its NeuroPort Cortical Microelectrode Array and Neural Signal Processor to be used for acute in-patient applications, and labeled for temporary (less than 30 days) recording and monitoring of brain electrical activity.

Cyberkinetics said it is anticipating a limited market introduction of the NeuroPort System early in 2006, after completing necessary manufacturing upgrades during the remainder of 2005. Cyberkinetics is evaluating distribution strategies to support a broad product launch before the end of 2006.

"All of our clinical sites are actively engaged in recruiting additional patients into the BrainGate trial," said Timothy Surgenor, Cyberkinetics' president and chief executive officer, in a statement. "We are making good progress in developing the next generation of BrainGate software, including patient interface upgrades and we look forward to working with our partners and with FDA to integrate those enhancements into the ongoing clinical trial."

"Marketing clearance of the NeuroPort System, our first commercial clinical product, is an important first step in our strategy to develop a broad family of products to diagnose, monitor and treat neurological diseases and injuries," said Surgenor in a second statement. "The NeuroPort Array and the NeuroPort NSP are both critical components derived from our BrainGate Neural Interface System. These approvals testify to the strong pre-clinical foundation of our technology platform. Furthermore, clinical use of the NeuroPort system will help familiarize neurologists and neurosurgeons with the characteristics and capabilities of our core technology and will provide invaluable clinical experience that will accelerate all of our programs, including the BrainGate program."