Paralyzed man walks again thanks to a technique that restores voluntary movement control – breaking latest news

Gert-Jan Oskam was paralyzed eleven years ago in an accident; today at the age of 40 he has returned to standing on his legs, learning again to walk and to control movement, thanks to a new technique described in the scientific journal Nature and that opens new perspectives for those who have had spinal cord injuries. It is a device that creates a “digital bridge” between his brain and the nerves under the wound: the cbrain “talk” directly with the part of the spinal cord that controls movementthus allowing him to stand and walk naturally for short distances with the aid of a crutch. The technique was developed by the research group of the Polytechnic of Lausanne led by Grégoire Courtine, the same who last year had experimented with a electrode system controllable with a tablet, which sent electrical stimuli to the muscles in a programmed way. And that Oskam himself had experienced.

Check the movement

The new device builds on previous work by the same study group. Compared to the previous device, connected to the tablet, which generated robotic movements, the new system «is completely different – explained Courtine -. Oskam has full control over the stimulation parameterwhich means he can stop, he can walk, he can climb stairs.
Il system at the base of the digital bridge it consists of 64 electrodes that record the signals of the sensorimotor cortex using frequencies that artificial intelligence has allowed to identify. When humans think they are walking, the implants detect electrical activity in the cortex; the electrical signals are transmitted to the spinal cord, where they are received by 16 electrodes and decoded in real time. This signal is transmitted and decoded wirelessly through a wearable control system, contained in a backpack.

The comment

Comments Silvestro Micera, full professor of electronic and computer bioengineering at the Sant’Anna School of Pisa: «The study confirms the results obtained over the years by this research group led by Professor Courtine to help paralyzed people with spinal cord injuries to walk again. There novelty is that the possibility of voluntary control of the movement is added, in practice we try to restore the movement with thought. Before the patients used a system based on a tablet, so there was an involuntary control of the movement, now after studies already conducted on animals it has been possible to restore voluntary control of movement, that is, as when, before the accident that paralyzed him, the patient thought he was walking and therefore did it. This new technique allows you to restore voluntary movement and, moreover, by doing this, the gait performance can improve».