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Man walks again after paralysis - 7th July 2023
A man who was paralysed after a bike accident from the waist down, can now walk again. Gert-Jan, from the Netherlands, was helped by French and Swiss scientists after breaking his neck, years before. This injury had stopped all communication between his brain and legs.
Grégoire Courtine's one of the neuro-scientists on the project. They used technology to act like a bridge between Gert-Jan's brain and leg muscles.
Grégoire Courtine: "We managed to restore this communication with a digital bridge which transforms thoughts into action. That means implants located in the region of our brain that normally controls the muscles of the legs. We capture this thought with implants and transform it into electrical activations of the spinal cord to activate the muscles of the legs, as the patient would normally do to walk."
When Gert-Jan wishes to walk, this message is processed by his brain. It's 'translated' to the appropriate leg muscles, which means he can move. And since the technology works wirelessly, he can move around easily.
Gert-Jan can now stand, walk around and even climb the stairs. However, it's been a huge challenge.
Gert-Jan: "It might not be for everybody because it’s not only implanting the system and then you can walk, it’s still a hard period of training."
Since the operation to put the technology into his brain and legs, Gert-Jan's experienced months of intensive training. The research team's been amazed at his progress. When the accident happened, he was informed that moving his legs again would be impossible.
Gert-Jan: "They told me, no, we can’t help you. I could move my arms and they said, like, be happy with this, but I never believed that I couldn’t walk anymore. At this point it was not based on anything, actually, but I still kept hope."
The scientists intend to develop the technology. They're hopeful they can change lives for others who've lost movement in parts of their body.
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