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Page last updated at 15:29 GMT, Tuesday, 30 June 2009 16:29 UK

Boost for brain-powered wheelchair

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Researchers at Japanese car maker Toyota say they have significantly improved the speed at which a thought-operated wheelchair works.

The company says past systems required several seconds to read brain waves, but the new technology requires only 125 milliseconds - or 125 thousandths of a second.

The person in the wheelchair wears a cap that can read brain signals, which are relayed to a brain scan electroencephalograph and then analyzed in a computer program.

Japanese rival Honda is also working on a system to connect the monitoring of brain waves with mechanical moves, and a team in the US has developed a similar thought-powered wheelchair.

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