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Man walks again after paralysis - 7th July 2023

A man paralysed from the waist down following a bicycle injury is now able to walk once more, thanks to French and Swiss scientists. Gert-Jan, from the Netherlands, suffered a severe injury to his spine several years ago. Having a broken neck prevented communication between the brain and his legs, but scientists brought together two different technologies to bridge the gap.

Grégoire Courtine, a neuroscientist, is one of the people behind this significant project.

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."

The science uses technology from AI to interpret the brain's nerve signals and to process them, so that they then activate the relevant leg muscles. And operating wirelessly, it gives Gert-Jan the chance to move around independently.

Although he's now able to stand, walk and even tackle the stairs, it has been – and remains – incredibly challenging for him.

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."

After having the operation to implant the 'digital bridge', Gert-Jan's undergone an intensive recovery period. The researchers have been particularly impressed to see he's regained nerve function even when the technology's switched off.

It's a very different story to the one he was originally told.

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."

Scientists plan to adapt the technology further to support those people who've lost the capacity for movement in certain areas, for example, after a stroke.