Scientists Make Paralyzed Monkey Walk Using Wireless 'Brain-Spine Interface'

In a major breakthrough that could potentially see paralyzed people getting a second shot at leading a normal life, scientists have managed to make a paralyzed monkey walk again using wireless 'brain-spine interface.'

According to Reuters, the Swiss scientists that accomplished this landmark achievement have helped primates with spinal cord injuries to regain control of non-functional limbs using a specific type of wireless technology. The monkeys, as the research team revealed, were treated with a neuroprosthetic interface that served as a wireless bridge between the spine and the brain, thus effectively bypassing the spinal cord lesions.

The researchers also stated that they have already started small feasibility studies in humans to try out some of the components.

"The link between the decoding of the brain and the stimulation of the spinal cord -- to make this communication exist -- is completely new," said Jocelyne Bloch, a neurosurgeon at the Lausanne University Hospital who played a key role in the experiments.

"For the first time, I can imagine a completely paralyzed patient able to move their legs through this brain-spine interface."

Even though this indeed makes a promising beginning to this new and potentially revolutionary technology, lead researcher Gregoire Courtine, a neuroscientist at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (EFPL), cautions that it could take several years before the success gained with monkeys can be replicated in human patients.

"It may take several years before this intervention can become a therapy for humans," Courtine said.

The study, originally published in the journal Nature on Wednesday, states that the interface works by decoding the brain activities associated with walking movements and then relaying the same to the spinal cord just below the injury. This can be accomplished with the use of electrodes that stimulate neural pathways, thus activating the muscles in both legs.

"We understood how to extract brain signals that encode flexion and extension movements of the leg with a mathematical algorithm. We then linked the decoded signals to the stimulation of specific hotspots in the spinal cord that induced the walking movement," Courtine added.