ANN ARBOR, Mich. (Michigan News Source) — Brain-Computer Interfaces (BCI), once a technology of science fiction movies, will now be available to patients at the University of Michigan’s brand-new clinic, one of the first clinics of its kind in the nation.

BCIs have shown promise in research to help people recover functionality after serious diseases, by processing signals from the brain and translating them to a computer. The clinic aims to advise people with speech and motor disabilities on potential BCI treatments and available clinical trials, according to the clinic’s website.

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“This is an exciting time for people with motor and speech disabilities, as we explore how BCIs could improve their quality of life,” said Matthew Willsey, M.D., Ph.D., assistant professor of neurological surgery, in a press release. “BCIs take signals from the brain and use them to restore speech as well as movement, either to a digital device or, potentially one day, to the body itself. This is a future therapy that many people used to think would be impossible.”

Willsey heads up the clinic, as well as its associated laboratory, the Willsey Laboratory for Brain-Computer Interfaces. Earlier this year, the Willsey team successfully recorded brain signals from a fully wireless device in a human’s brain, when most previous BCIs required a wired connection between the device and a computer.

The Willsey lab also ran a study where a person paralyzed in all four limbs was able to control a virtual drone with only his thoughts.