A paralysed man has been able to walk simply by thinking about it, thanks to electronic brain implants
The development,, was led by Swiss researchers. Prof Jocelyne Bloch, of Lausanne University, who is the neurosurgeon who carried out the delicate surgery to insert the implants, stressed that the system was still at a basic research stage and was many years away from being available to paralysed patients.
Harvey Sihota is chief executive of the UK charity Spinal Research, which was not involved in the research. He said that although there was a long way to go before the technology would be generally available, he described the development as "very encouraging". The Swiss team developed an algorithm which translates these signals into instructions to move leg and foot muscles via a second implant inserted around Gert-Jan's spinal cord - which Prof Bloch intricately attached to the nerve endings related to walking.
The brain implants build on Prof Courtine's earlier work, when only the spinal implant was used to restore movement. The spinal implant amplified weak signals from the brain to the damaged part of the spinal column and was boosted further by pre-programmed signals from a computer. "I felt before that the system was controlling me, but now I am controlling it".Neither the previous or new systems can be used constantly. They are bulky and still at an experimental stage.
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