Neuroscientists and neurosurgeons have revealed they have re-established the communication between the brain and spinal cord with a wireless digital bridge, allowing a paralysed person to walk again naturally.
The findings have been reported in the journal Nature and outline the successful treatment of 40-year-old Dutchman Gert-Jan Oskam who suffered a spinal cord injury following a bicycle accident in 2011 that left him paralysed.
The digital bridge enabled Gert-Jan to regain natural control over the movement of his paralysed legs, allowing him to stand, walk and even climb stairs.
Grégoire Courtine, Professor of Neuroscience at EPFL, CHUV and UNIL in Switzerland, said: “We have created a wireless interface between the brain and the spinal cord using brain-computer interface (BCI) technology that transforms thought into action."
To establish this digital bridge, two types of electronic implants are needed.
Neurosurgeon Jocelyne Bloch, who is a professor at CHUV, UNIL and EPFL, explained: "We have implanted WIMAGINE® devices above the region of the brain that is responsible for controlling leg movements.
“These devices developed by the CEA allows to decode the electrical signals generated by the brain when we think about walking.
“We also positioned a neurostimulator connected to an electrode array over the region of the spinal cord that controls leg movement.”
Guillaume Charvet, head of the BCI program at CEA, added: "Thanks to algorithms based on adaptive artificial intelligence methods, movement intentions are decoded in real time from brain recordings.”
These intentions are then converted into sequences of electrical stimulation of the spinal cord, which in turn activate leg muscles to achieve the desired movement.
This digital bridge operates wirelessly, allowing the patient to move around independently.
Rehabilitation, supported by the digital bridge, enabled Gert-Jan to recover neurological functions that he had lost since his accident.
Researchers were able to quantify remarkable improvements in his sensory perceptions and motor skills, even when the digital bridge was switched off.
This digital repair of the spinal cord suggests that new nerve connections have developed.
At this stage, the digital bridge has only been tested in one person.
Jocelyne Bloch and Grégoire Courtine explain that, in the future, a comparable strategy could be used to restore arm and hand functions.
They add that the digital bridge could also be applied to other clinical indications, such as paralysis due to stroke.
The company ONWARD Medical, along with CEA and EPFL has received support from the European Commission through its European Innovation Council to develop a commercial version of the digital bridge, with the goal of making the technology available worldwide.
Photo caption info: Gert-Jan Oskam. Photo credit: Gilles Weber, CC-BY-SA
