According to new research, a medical device helped one paralyzed man resume normal walking more than ten years after the incident that caused his paralysis. Dr. Grégoire Courtine and associates from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne developed and implanted a "brain-spine interface" that creates a direct neurological connection between the brain and spinal cord. Brain implants track the intentions behind a person's movements, which are wirelessly related to a processing unit they wear outside the body.
In order to stimulate the muscles, the processing unit converts the intention into orders and delivers them back through the second implant. The study's conclusions, which were published on Wednesday in the journal Nature, include successful outcomes for one Dutch study participant.
A motorbike accident more than ten years ago in China left 40-year-old Gert-Jan Oskam paralyzed. He is able to stand for a few minutes without his hands in his pockets for at least 100 meters (330 feet), which is a short distance. Targeted electrical pulses can stimulate the parts of the leg needed for walking, according to an earlier study. Due to the reconnecting of two central nervous system regions that were severed by a spinal cord injury, this innovative technology enables more fluid motions and greater adaptations to changing terrain. Despite the fact that Oskam was the trial's first participant, researchers are optimistic about the trial's potential.
This study supports the idea that a rapid neurological connection can be made between the brain and spinal cord. They would like to make the device smaller so that it is more portable, but expanding the range of that link could also aid patients who have arm and hand paralysis or who have experienced a stroke. The idea of a digital link between the brain and spinal cord heralds a new era in the treatment of movement impairments brought on by neurological illnesses.
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