The distinction is awarded each year to 100 individuals under age 35 whose innovative work in technology has a profound impact on the world.

Photo by Bob Boston

Eric C. Leuthardt, M.D., examines an electronic grid that can be placed atop the brain to gather motor signals that enable patients to play a computer game by only using their brains. The breakthrough is a step toward creating biomedical devices that can control artificial limbs.

The awardees were honored at the magazine's conference last month and are listed in the October issue.

"This year's winners are all pioneering fascinating innovations in the fields of biomedicine, computing and nanotechnology and were chosen after a rigorous selection and judging process," said David Rotman, executive editor of Technology Review. "The result is an elite group whose visions and inventions will shape the future of technology."

Leuthardt made international headlines this summer when he and colleague Daniel W. Moran, Ph.D., assistant professor of biomedical engineering, placed electronic grids atop patients' brains to gather motor signals that enabled patients to play a computer game using only their brains.

The breakthrough is a step toward building biomedical devices that can control artificial limbs, allowing, for example, a patient to move his prosthetic arm simply by thinking about it.

"Our work may potentially improve the lives of people with such disabilities as ALS and spinal cord injuries," Leuthardt said. "Additionally, this type of research is producing some fundamental insights into many different fields, ranging from neurophysiology to clinical medicine."