A 38-year-old paralyzed man has been able to walk again through the help of an electronic brain chip implants.
The communication between the brain and spinal cord was restored with a digital bridge which enabled an individual with chronic tetraplegia (a paralysis caused by an injury of the cervical spinal cord) to stand and walk naturally.
The scientists who carried out the procedure said they were able to come up with an algorithm that translated the appropriate signals from the brain into instructions to move leg and foot muscles via a second implant inserted around the participant’s spinal cord which was then intricately attached to the nerve endings related to walking.
The procedure which led to the man’s ability to work again was carried out in 2021 when he sustained a spinal cord injury during a biking accident in 2011.
The success of the procedure has remained stable for over a year, including during independent use at home.
Grégoire Courtine of the École Polytechnique Fédérale in Lausanne (EPFL), Switzerland who led the project, stated that the participant’s current mobility is slow but smooth.
“Seeing him walk so naturally is so moving.
“It is a paradigm shift in what was available before,” he said.
The target of this technological advancement according to Courtine was for commercialization so it can be made available to people.
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