A 28-year-old paraplegic man walks with the help of technology by which scientists rerouted signals from his brain to electrodes on his knees. The electrode cap the man is wearing picks up brain waves and beams them wirelessly to a computer, which deciphers the waves as an intention to stand still or walk. The relevant command is then sent to a microcontroller on the man’s belt, and on to nerves that trigger muscles to move the legs.
The man, who was paralyzed from the waist down by a spinal cord injury, has become the first such patient to walk without the use of robotics. Researchers at the University of California, Irvine, south of Los Angeles, say the outcome marks a promising step that one day may help stroke and spinal injury.
ABC Breaking News
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