Three paralysed men, who were told they would spend the rest of their lives in a wheelchair, are able to walk again thanks to doctors in Switzerland. An electrical device inserted around the men's spines boosted signals from their brains to their legs. And it also helped damaged nerves in the spinal cord to regrow.
The researchers hope that this unexpected bonus will enable some paralysed people ultimately to regain independent movement. BBC News has had exclusive access to the patients in the clinical trial, the results of which are published in the journal Nature.
The first patient to be treated was 30-year-old Swiss man David M'zee, who suffered a severe spinal injury seven years ago in a sporting accident.
However, thanks to an electrical implant developed by a team at École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), he can walk more than half a mile with the implant turned on.
As I strolled with him on a cloudless sunny day in the foothills of the Alps overlooking Lake Geneva, he told me how the ability to walk, albeit for short periods under controlled conditions, had changed his life.
The researchers believe that their system will improve and restore some movement to people who had lost all hope of walking again.
They plan to begin larger trials in Europe and the US in three years' time.
If these go well, the researchers hope the system could become more widely available.
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FACEBOOK COMMENTS
View previous comments…Anuforo Osinachi James
No. Am a graduate of Agricultural Economics & Extension Techonlogy.
In extension, will call this diffusion of technology and adoption of innovation.
In extension, will call this diffusion of technology and adoption of innovation.
Anuforo Osinachi James
Provided that the prayers and miracles are working. No problem.
We give God all the glory.
We give God all the glory.
