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About

Meel Velliste is a pioneering researcher in neural engineering and brain-computer interfaces (BCIs), best known for his groundbreaking work in cortical control of prosthetic limbs. His landmark 2008 study, “Cortical control of a prosthetic arm for self-feeding,” has garnered over 1,590 citations, demonstrating its profound impact on the field. In this work, Velliste and his team demonstrated that non-human primates could use neural signals from motor cortex to control a robotic arm for self-feeding—a milestone in neuroprosthetics. He further advanced the field by translating these findings to human applications, as shown in his 2013 collaborative study, where a person with tetraplegia used a BCI to control a sophisticated anthropomorphic robotic arm with remarkable speed and skill, approaching able-bodied performance. Velliste’s contributions extend to developing high-dimensional control methods, including seven-degree-of-freedom cortical control and state-space control of prosthetic hand shape, addressing the challenge of managing complex, multi-joint devices. His early work also explored automated analysis of fluorescence microscope images for protein subcellular localization, showcasing his versatility. With a career focused on bridging animal models to human clinical applications, Velliste’s research has fundamentally shaped modern neuroprosthetics, offering hope for restoring movement to individuals with paralysis.