Paralyzed man walks with device controlled by brainwaves

     A paraplegic man who was paralysed for five years has walked again on his own two feet, thanks to a new kind of brain-computer interface that can reroute his thoughts to his legs, by passing his spinal cord entirely.

The ‘brain-computer interface’ system will be improved by developing an implantable version, say experts.

A 26-year-old male who had suffered a spinal cord injury which had paralysed him from the waist down was given the ability to walk again by scientists, who rerouted brain waves to electrodes on his knees.

The anonymous man, who experiences complete paralysis

in both legs due to a severe spinal cord injury (SCI), is the first such patient to demonstrate that brain-controlled over ground walking after paraplegia due to SCI is feasible.

“Even after years of paralysis, the brain can still generate robust brain waves that can be harnessed to enable basic walking,” one of the researchers, Zoran Nenadic from the University of California, Irvine in the US, said in a press release. “We showed that you can restore intuitive, brain-controlled walking after a complete spinal cord injury."

The doctors responsible said that he was the first person with paraplegia caused by a spinal injury given the ability to walk without relying on manually controlled robotic limbs.

The system works via non-invasive electroencephalography (EEG), where the participant wears a cap that captures electrical signals generated by the brain. These are then processed by a computer algorithm and transmitted to electrodes attached to the subject’s knees, triggering movement in the leg muscles.

The volunteer had to undergo months of mental training to reactivate his brain’s conceptual walking ability, in addition to extensive physical therapy that enabled him to begin moving his legs again.

The mental training consisted of the man wearing an EEG cap that would read his brain waves as he was being instructed to think about walking. Software processed his thoughts and isolated the brain waves associated with leg movement.

This progressed to the man using his thoughts to control 

the walking of a virtual reality avatar, before physical training commenced in earnest. The man first practised walking while suspended in the air, before finally standing on his own two feet again, culminating in him walking nearly 4 metres across the ground.

“Once we’ve confirmed the usability of this non-invasive system, we can look into invasive means, such as brain implants,” said an assistant clinical professor of neurology. “We hope that an implant could achieve an even greater level of prosthesis control because brain waves are recorded with higher quality. In addition, such an implant could deliver sensation back to the brain, enabling the user to feel his legs.”

Yet another ground-breaking step, literally, for those who have lost the ability to walk, this development brings hope to many millions across the globe, for a better, more active future that revolutionizes their mobility.                                                                                                                        M. Manuel